The Alphabet Notebook
by E.M. Megs
Summary: There are some things that couldn't be explained by words formed by the letters of the alphabet. Collection of one-shots with a different prompt for each letter of the alphabet. Kyoya's point of view. Mostly KyoHaru.
1. A: Arguments of Love and Merit

_The Alphabet Notebook _

_By Meganes Ultimate Fangirl _

_A – Arguments of Love and Merit _

This infuriating girl. She's so curious. Always prodding for more answers. Can't she just take what's right in front of her eyes instead of prying into theories?

Of course not. That _isn't _how Haruhi is. It never has been and probably never will be. I could give her the straightest answer on the face of the planet and she would still find a hidden theory behind it. Some kind of outlook on my personal thoughts. Somehow, she sees through my mask, my facade.

–

"Kyoya-sempai?" she asked, looking up from her homework with a look on her face full of pure curiosity set on her face. We were the only two left in the Third Music Room, left to finish up our work and lockup the room.

Inwardly, I sighed. This was probably another chance she was taking to get a look at my inner workings. "Yes, Haruhi?" I replied patiently, not bothering to look up from my computer screen.

"What do you think about love?"

My fingers froze where they were hovering over the keys for a moment before resuming typing like they'd never stopped in the first place. Definitely hadn't been expected that question to pop out of her lips, of all people. Though, being the ever blunt one she was she decided to ask straight out. "An emotion. Mostly useless, though it can be useful at times," I murmured.

"Hmm. Useful when using another's feelings to get something you want?"

I faltered. That... had been my initial conclusion, but it wasn't exactly the wording that I'd use. Though, I hadn't expected her to jump right to it. The ever unpredictable Haruhi. "Not exactly," I stated carefully.

"That's the only way it would benefit you. If the love of someone else for you could reap benefits for your family business. Like, say, marrying some girl who was completely in love with you would complete a merger with another company that could be of use."

I realized my fingers had stopped moving rapidly over the keys. I had intended to remain indifferent the entire conversation, but instead I had stopped everything I was doing and was now staring at her over my glasses.

"Sempai?"

"Yes, Haruhi," I said softly, "But I wouldn't put it quite so harshly. That makes me look like a cold-hearted person."

"But it's the truth isn't it? You don't believe in love, do you Kyoya-sempai?"

Again, I faltered, staring at her. How did she do it? How did she see through everything that I'd worked so hard to put up between myself and the world? This simple _commoner_ could see through what people of my own aristocratic society couldn't. "What point are you trying to make, Haruhi?"

"Just trying to figure you out, Sempai," she murmured, a small smile lighting up her face. "Do you believe in love?"

I studied her face for a moment, eyes unconsciously narrowing in slight suspicion. "No," I stated carefully, "No, I don't."

Her smile widened slightly. "Maybe, I'll be able to change that."

I was silent and still as she packed up her things and made way to leave the room. "Haruhi!" I called after her as she reached the door. She turned back. "Maybe, you will," I said with a smirk. "Just maybe, you will."

–

**A/N: One-shot collection anyone? **

**Anyway. The idea to start this kind of thing came from a suggestion from kyouyaootooriandharuhiforever. I actually decided to go through with it while I was reading _Night _by Elie Wiesel for English class and realized that I could totally write a one-shot for based completely on the prompt "Eyes to the Soul" (That'll be E if no one caught the hint.) **

**The deal for this is, one prompt a letter until I finish with Z. Simple. Mostly from Kyoya's point of view, unless I feel like something sounds better from third person, then it'll switch. Basically, a look into Kyoya's notebook along with a bit of conversation. Yay? **

**May change as I get farther in, and I've come up with another idea for another multi-chaptered story. Fixing up the prologue for it before posting it up (most likely will be while I'm in Idaho or after). **

**Tell me how you like this idea. And I'm taking prompt suggestions for the letter B. **


	2. B: Barren Land

_The Alphabet Notebook _

_By Meganes Ultimate Fangirl _

_B – Barren Land _

To my the world was merely a landscape of barren mountains that had to be climbed and overcome. My older brothers, Akito and Yuichii? Mere obstacles in the way to success.

I didn't do a single thing that didn't help me get over one of the many mountains in my path.

Until she came along.

–

"There's no merit to this Kyoya-sempai," she said softly, staring up at me with those ever wandering, ever curious chocolate eyes. They showed no fear even though I was on top of her, a man looking down on his female victim. "You know that."

I stared at her for a moment before chuckling darkly. I knew there was no merit. There was the merit for her if it taught her a lesson, but there was no merit for me.

Sleeping with a commoner wouldn't do anything for me except, perhaps, anger out friends if they ever found out.

And yet, it still got me that she was easily able to talk to _me _about merit with no fear while she wasn't in a position to be talking about it. I stayed where I was for a moment longer before shifting to move off of her.

I sat on the edge of the bed while she pushed herself up. Her hand touched my shoulder gently. "Sempai?"

"Yes, Haruhi?" I replied quietly, turning to gaze at her.

"You're really a kind person inside. Thank you for trying to teach me a lesson," she murmured, smiling widely.

That smile and those simple words, that was all the excuse I needed to smile back at her.

And perhaps, because of her, those mountains in that vast, ever-changing world would start to look a little less barren.

–

**A/N: Sitting in a hotel room as I type this. Yay for free wifi. Thought this up in the car on the way here actually. Didn't get a chance to see any of the suggestions people left. And I may or may not have one for C. Feel free to leave suggestions for any letter that you please. **

**Anyone recognize this scenario? **

**Kudos to: HHxHF4ever, Kiriyu-chan, Charley Reede, kyouyaootooriandharuhiforever, and Kuramasredredrose. **

**Man, I'm beat. **


	3. C: Carnival Stress Relief

_The Alphabet Notebook _

_By Meganes Ultimate Fangirl _

_C – Carnival Stress Relief _

Carnivals had always seemed like weird places to me. Ones that the rich put on were just so we could show off our ability to use our money to other individuals of our class. The Ouran carnivals were always used by the students and parents for that purpose. As much as I belonged in that world of luxuriously fancy carnival stalls, I'd started feeling out of place there.

I knew it was all Haruhi's fault.

Which is probably how she had been able to convince me to go to a commoners carnival for our first date.

–

"Why go to a carnival when we could go to a five-star restaurant?" I asked with my eyebrows furrowed in a look of distaste.

"Because it costs less?" she fired back at me.

"Haruhi, I'm paying for everything. The cost is hardly an issue here," I stated, staring her in the eye.

"Then just agree because it's simple and I love simple," she muttered, frowning at me in a way that I, surprisingly, found adorable. I smirked at her, her frown deepening as she registered it. I was actually tempted to agree, just to see her reaction to something else.

"I'm afraid that isn't profitable enough for me to agree to," I replied, smirk widening. She pursed her lips in annoyance.

"Kyoya," she said blankly. I was still getting used to hearing my name fall from her lips without the honorific attached. "It's my old middle school's yearly carnival. It'll be fun and frankly, you need to loosen up a bit."

I snorted. Sure. "Loosen up a bit?" I asked with raised eyebrow. She gave me this look and ducked behind my back. Her fingers started massaging my shoulder shortly after, finding each and every single knot that lay within their muscles. Involuntarily, I winced when she found a sore spot.

"You're too stressed and tense," she grumbled, giving the sore spot one last pointed thumb jab before returning to her place in front of me.

"So, I'll go to a massage therapist," I muttered, eying her stubbornly.

"Kyoya!" she exclaimed in irritation, "For Christ's sake!"

"What?" I pretended to be oblivious to her obvious annoyance with me. No wonder the twins found it so amusing to toy with her.

"_Massage Therapy _isn't the only way that you can loosen up! Do something fun for once!"

"I do," I said blankly, smirking as she threw her hands in the air.

"Please, Kyoya," she mumbled in her last attempt to convince me. She took a step closer and stared up into my eyes. "Just go to the damn carnival with me."

I sighed and put a hand on her shoulder. "Since you asked nicely," I murmured, smirking again as she glared at me with utter resentment.

–

I glanced at Haruhi's smiling face. She was having fun and I was as well, much to my own amazement. She held a drink of some sort in her hand, I finally noticed. She'd probably been holding it for a while now. Curiosity got the better of me as I swiped it from her hand. She glowered at me while I stole a sip of it, gazing over the edge of the cup at her bemusedly.

It tasted like watermelon but it wasn't too sweet or too sour. And it was cold. I liked it.

Unfortunately, Haruhi snatched it back before I could take another sip. I frowned at her. "I was drinking that," I muttered resentfully.

She rolled her eyes. "I bought it," she retorted. A glimpse of her tongue showed bright red. I smirked. She probably tasted like watermelons. She looked at my smirk apprehensively, but I shook my head. It was our first date. I shouldn't even think about kissing her.

Instead, I slipped my hand into hers and squeezed. Her lips twitched upward as she caught sight of something else to do. She tugged me toward it, keeping her fingers laced with mine the entire time.

Perhaps, there _were_ profits to these commoners carnivals.

–

**A/N: Hah. Knew I'd think one up in the car on the way home. Ears and head hurt. But at least I don't have to go to church in the morning. **

**Koharu Veddette actually triggered this one by saying she was at a carnival when I was texting her. I was like "WAAAAIT. THAT'S PERFECT!" Amazing my editor/friend is. What would I do without her? **

**And upon the request of Kiriyu-chan, this one is a bit more light-hearted and fun. (I think. Hopefully. Maybe?) **

**Kudos to: Kiriyu-chan and Kuramasredredrose. **

**D'aww. What happened to the nice huge list that I had for A? B must not be that popular. Or I'm just not giving it enough time. And Lost in the Dark has a lonesome one. (Hint hint all my lovely regulars that I love so much!) **


	4. D: Damn Dog

_The Alphabet Notebook _

_By Meganes Ultimate Fangirl _

_D – Damn Dog_

Stupid Tamaki and his stupid trip to Europe, leaving me with his stupid dog for a stupid week. That sentence may be overusing the word stupid a little too much, but it's necessary. I'm a fourth year college student and he thinks I have the time _or _the patience to take care of Antoinette for an _entire week_.

Not to mention, I'm not much of an animal person.

Hell, even if I had to have a pet, it'd probably be one low maintenance like a goldfish. Yes, a goldfish would be better. You feed it once a day and clean it's bowl occasionally and it's happy. End of story.

The doorbell interrupted my study session. Antoinette started barking furiously and ran from where she sat in front of my desk, looking for attention, to the front door in a flurry of fur. I rolled my eyes and stood up to follow her. "Damn rambunctious dog," I growled under my breath as I pushed her out of the way to open the door. She ran out the door, successfully knocking the brunette that was standing outside off balance. "_Antoinette!_" I yelled after her, repressing the urge to swear.

"Kyoya... sempai?" Haruhi asked shakily. Her knees were wobbling. She had been carrying a stack of papers that were now scattered across the ground, billowing slightly in the wind.

I sighed and knelt down, gathering up said papers. "Damn dog," I muttered again under my breath crossly. I was going to throttle Tamaki when he got back from France. Just throttle him. "Sorry about that Haruhi."

"What's Tamaki-sempai's dog doing here?" she asked, sounding slightly amused. She too knelt down to gather up the great amount of papers she'd been carrying. I made a sour face.

"I'm dog-sittingfor him while he's away in France," I scoffed lightly. She smiled, taking the stack that I had from me and placing it on top of hers. I glanced over her shoulder, scowling at the dog as she started trotting around the garden like it was her own personal territory.

"How'd he convince you to do that?" she replied with a chuckle.

"I have no clue," I answered in a mutter, pushing up my glasses with my forefinger. "_DAMMIT ANTOINETTE. NOT THE FLOWERS!_" I yelled suddenly, startling Haruhi as I glared furiously at the dog digging up the flowers in my garden. "Excuse me a moment."

I hurried down the front steps toward Antoinette and grabbed her by the collar without much difficulty. Dragging her back into the house was the problem. Haruhi laughed from the porch and stepped inside to set her papers down on a table just inside the door before rushing down to help me pull the golden retriever into the house like she was supposed to.

I finally gave her a final shove and slammed the door shut behind us, glaring daggers at the dog from hell.

My guest was giggling. "What?" I demanded sharply, turning my glare in her direction.

"Nothing," she murmured, "I was just thinking about how much Antoinette acts like Tamaki, yet you don't treat _him _like that."

I stared at her, straightening my shirt. "That's because, my dear Haruhi, Tamaki is a person. Antoinette is a dog. Tamaki knows better than to go dig up _my _garden. Antoinette _should _but she _doesn't_," I explained, an angered edge to my voice and my jaw set. I drew in a deep breath. I didn't mean to snap at her. She didn't do anything wrong. "What did you come for anyway?"

"Ahh," she mumbled, "Nothing much. Just these contracts for you to sign off on." Right. Business. She was my lawyer. Why else would she be in my house at that current moment? I nodded as she took a small portion of the stack and handed it to me. "I'd summarize it for you if I could remember half of what's on it. I was..." she coughed, "half asleep when I was looking through these."

I nodded in understanding. "I know the feeling," I muttered under my breath, "You really should get more rest than you do, Haruhi. You work too much." I looked up at her with a small smile. She shook her head and made a face.

"I'm fine, Sempai," she said softly, handing me a pen to sign off on the contracts. I did with slight flourish. "I suppose I'll be going now." She took the papers from her.

At that moment, the doorbell rang. Antoinette, like she had been _all week_, ran excitedly to the door barking her head off.

This time, she actually did knock over Haruhi, causing her to go stumbling into me and her papers to fly everywhere once more. I fell backwards onto the couch that was behind me, bringing Haruhi with me of course.

Our lips met.

Our eyes both widened with shock as the door burst open. "Mother! I'm ba– WHAT? KYOYA WHAT YOU ARE DOING TO HARUHI? INCEST!" Tamaki shrieked, staring bug-eyed at us. Haruhi and I just stared at each other, our lips no longer connected as she had jerked away as soon as she had heard Tamaki's voice. However, we were still in a very... suggestive... position. The blonde idiot was still spluttering about something. I ignored him and wrapped my arms around Haruhi, pushing both of us up off the couch.

"You idiot," I growled under my breath, striding to the kitchen and leaving Haruhi to deal with him for the moment. I returned seconds later with a leash, a dog food bowl, and a bag of dog food in my hands. I shoved them at Tamaki. "Take those and the dog, and _get out_."

He looked at me funny, shivers visibly going down his spine at my cold nature. Scared for his life, he hooked the leash on Antoinette's collar and fled. I turned back to Haruhi who had, once again, recollected her papers from the ground.

She glanced up at me. Was it just my imagination or was her face slightly red?

That... actually hadn't been that unpleasant. The feel of her lips on mine. I just looked at her for a while, until she coughed uncomfortably under my gaze. "I should get going, Sempai. I've got other people to deal with," she mumbled. I caught her wrist as she moved toward the door.

"Thanks, Haruhi," I murmured, truly grateful that she was my lawyer, "For coming by with the contracts I mean. Dunno what I'd do without you."

This time, I was sure that her face was red as she nodded, embarrassed, and ducked her head. I smirked at her.

That dog, that _damn _dog, might just have been useful for something.

–

**A/N: Writing this after 11 PM when I should be asleep. Eheheh? **

**This little one-shot is thanks to Kuramasredredrose for the dog-sitting idea. I changed it slightly though, as I normally do. And, as normal, it didn't turn out quite the way I expected it to. **

**Kudos to: Kuramasredredrose, Koharu Veddette, Moonstarr394, and kyouyaootooriandharuhiforever. **

**Next is the one that started this entire collection! If... I can manage to finish it within a decent time. I might just change it to some other prompt. I have tons of them written down in my notebook. Seems like whenever I think of a simple word that I might be able to turn into something I write it down. By the end of this I'll probably still have enough of them to write through the alphabet AGAIN. **


	5. E: Eyes to the Soul

_The Alphabet Notebook_

_By Meganes Ultimate Fangirl _

_E – Eyes to the Soul_

Eyes are a window to the soul. Or that's what they say.

_Her _eyes show everything. She never conceals anything. She could try to but it wouldn't work. No matter what I'd always see straight through her. That's the way it's been since the beginning. Since she broke that vase in the club room.

If you asked me in 20 years what her eyes looked like, I'd be able to tell you, because they're forever burned in my memory.

I'd really love to say that one Haruhi Fujioka has had absolutely no affect on me like she has had with the others, but I'd be lying through my teeth.

–

Chocolate. That's what she is. Where I'm a stony onyx she's a milky chocolate. Just like our eyes. Haruhi is chocolate just like the brown of her eyes. Those eyes that are now staring at me inquiringly. "Kyoya-sempai?" she asks tentatively, rocking on the balls of her feet.

"Yes, Haruhi?" I reply, glancing at her over my glasses which makes her appear fuzzy. I adjust my glasses, pushing them up my nose with my index finger before returning my gaze to the computer screen in front of me.

She sits down on the seat next to me. "Have you ever noticed the little bit of purple in Tamaki-sempai's eyes?"

I pause in my furious typing, glancing over that the blonde in question. He did, occasionally, have a bit of violet in his eyes that blended with the blue. It depended on what he was wearing but it was still there. "Yes," I murmur, "Why?"

"I was just wondering if anyone else has ever noticed it," she mutters, mostly to herself, "The twins didn't when I asked them."

I let out a soft snort. "The twins aren't as observant to little details like that, Haruhi."

She nods in thought for a moment and scoots her chair closer to mine. I couldn't even react before she pulled my glasses off my face, staring hard into my eyes with her own. Like she's concentrating excruciatingly hard on them, searching for something. She sighs and nods after a moment while I sit there in shock. "Your eyes are softer without your glasses, Sempai," she states softly, "They don't seem as cruel. And you can see the tiniest bit of green among all the darkness."

I stare at her, watching as her fuzzy figure moved away from me once more. Then I cough. "That's an... interesting analysis."

She smiles then. "Maybe you should think about switching to contacts like me."

I shake my head and hold out a hand for my glasses. She places them in my hand, watching in amusement as I unfold them and place them on my face. "I like the effect," I mutter with a smirk.

She lets out a soft sigh of annoyance and stands. "Sometimes, there's merit in being yourself instead of hiding behind a wall too, Kyoya-sempai," she says quietly before turning her back on me and striding in the direction of her regular place.

After a few steps she stops and turns back to me.

"Perhaps if you found that merit, that little bit of green would show itself more often."

–

**A/N: This is... nothing like I expected it to be. Oh LORDS. Still, I hope you enjoyed it. The bit of green is probably a myth. But y'know. I needed to put SOMETHING in there. Was going to make it like... dark purple or something like that but that's just copying Tamaki. So... It's green. Haha! **

**Kudos for the letter D go to: Hope-Hazard, Koharu Veddette, Kiriyu-chan, Charley Reede, Kuramasredredrose, and LostInASeaOfGarnetandAmethyst. **

**Goodness. If Lost in the Dark got that many reviews for one chapter, I'd be updating it more than this. I'm trying to rotate the updates between LD and this but I seem to want to write for this more. (Hint hint, maybe, possibly, please?) **


	6. F: Failure to See

_The Alphabet Notebook_

_By Meganes Ultimate Fangirl _

_F – Failure to See_

A well-known fact: I'm completely blind without my glasses. Utterly blind. And occasionally, even with them on I can't see everything that I should.

As much as I appear like I can see everything there is to know about her, Haruhi actually is one of those things that I can't see clearly, even with my glasses on. I'd wished that I could see into her mind on more than one occasion. Just a glimpse. To know what she was thinking.

All attempts to do such a thing backfired completely.

–

My third year of high school, Haruhi was close to being free from the Host Club. Once Tamaki and I graduated she'd be free of all obligations to us. She could concentrate on her studies as much as she wanted without interference.

"Kyoya?" she mumbled one day, having dropped the honorific part-way through the year. "Where's my debt at currently?"

I smirked and popped open my notebook, finding the current calculation for her debt to the club. I glanced over the number. "A little less than 100 thousand yen and 6 months to pay it off."

She frowned. "That's still quite a lot," she muttered to herself, "Three or four times my apartment's rent."

"It'll be waved as soon as I graduate anyway," I stated with raised eyebrow, "You've done good so far. Nine million yen down to 100 thousand. That's a huge chunk." What was I doing? Giving her consolation?

"Yeah," she replied softly, "It is. But I dunno if I can clear it in 6 months. And I don't want to cheat and just wait for it to be waved."

"It isn't cheating as long as you do your best, Haruhi."

She nodded in thought. "My Dad also wanted me to ask you... Do you want to come over for dinner tonight?"

I stared at her, pausing in what I was writing. Ranka had invited me over on occasion. However, he always called. He never relayed the message through Haruhi. "Are you sure that's a message from your father?"

She broke her gaze from mine and nodded slowly. "Yes. He said he was sorry that he didn't call you himself to ask."

I nodded in false understanding. "I apologize, Haruhi, but I have a meeting to do to with my father tonight and can't make it."

"Ahh. Alright. I'll tell him," she mumbled.

The disappointment in her voice wrenched something horrible inside of me. Maybe, just maybe, I was blind in a way other than sight.

–

I saw the error of my refusal and several days later, I caught up to her after Host Club. "Haruhi!"

She turned around, startled for a moment. "Kyoya? Something wrong?"

"I just wanted to ask you if you'd like to join me for dinner tomorrow," I murmured.

She smiled and nodded. "Yes. I'd like that, Kyoya," she replied quietly.

Perhaps I'd finally be able to see everything that I should if I worked hard enough to see everything that needed to be seen. And maybe that way, I'd have a few less failures in my line of sight.

–

**A/N: Because we all know Kyoya has that little soft side sometimes. I struggled to find a prompt for this one. Of a list of five I finally came up with this one. Tada? I have two prompts already but add to the list if you have any. **

**Man I'm on a roll today. Two updates in 2 hours. **

**Kudos to Hope-Hazard, kyouyaootooriandharuhiforever, Kiriyu-chan, BlackestNight BrightestDay, Kuramasredredrose, and Bemavajyi. That nice list right there makes me proud. **


	7. G: Ghosts in the Bedroom

_The Alphabet Notebook_

_By Meganes Ultimate Fangirl_

_G – Ghosts in the Bedroom_

She crawled into bed. Just as she was settling down though she felt a pair of arms wrap around her from behind. "Haruhi," an unfamiliar voice breathed. Her heart clenched in fear, accelerating to a point where it seemed that it would pump it's way straight out of her chest.

Whoever this was, he wasn't supposed to be in her bed. Where was Kyoya? Where the hell was her husband? He should be the one wrapping his arms around her. Making her feel safe with his embrace just like he always did. Fear, coursed through her, her eyes widening and her mouth opening to scream.

The sound that came out of her throat was strangled. Strangled and hideous with horror. Bloodcurdling, it was. And it filled the entire house.

–

I heard the scream. I didn't recognize it as Haruhi's at first and thought that it was merely a figment of my imagination. Then I heard the sobbing and horror-filled terror that _was _my wife's when she screamed again. This time, forming my name.

Immediately, I jumped out of my seat, bolting into action. Had someone broken into the house? Was someone, God forbid, _hurting _her right now? If anyone even _dared_ to lay a finger on my wife I'd have them in the landed in the hospital, sued, _and _charged with a criminal felony complete with restraining order in the blink of an eye.

Haruhi was special to me. Not only because she was my wife. But because she'd chosen me over those idiot twins and that even bigger idiot blonde. And, I'd only tell her when we were alone, but I loved her.

I loved her. And that's why, if some bastard was doing something unforgivable to her right now, I was going to have his life screwed over in the most legal way possible. I reached the bedroom and turned on the lights to find Haruhi curled up on the bed in a tight ball, sobbing uncontrollably.

Alone.

She was absolutely, positively alone. I approached her cautiously, lowering myself onto the side of the bed slowly. She flinched when my weight disturbed the matress. "Haruhi," I called softly, reaching a hand out to wipe the hair away from her face. Perhaps she had been having a nightmare. But never, _ever _had I ever heard someone scream _that _loud in their sleep.

Her tightly clenched eyes opened slowly, revealing her frightened brown orbs. Her eyes were _disturbingly _frightened, which worried me, pulling the edges of my mouth down in a frown. "Haruhi? What's wrong?" I asked gently and she crawled into my arms, shivering.

"So-Someone just had their arms around me," she choked out, shaking her head furiously. "And it wasn't you. An-And they said my name. And I _definitely _didn't recognize the voice."

I stared at her for a moment, thinking that, maybe she'd lost her mind. That, perhaps, she had imagined something that couldn't possibly be true. Then I looked around the room. There was no signs at all that anyone but the two of us had been there. The side of the bed that I normally inhabited remained completely untouched, in fact. "Haruhi," I said softly, "No one's here. Not a single soul is here but you and me. Are you sure it wasn't just a nightma–?"

She cut me off, "Kyoya. I'd just climbed into bed. I don't think I could have possibly fallen asleep and _dreamed _about being held, no, _harrassed_, by someone else in my bed." She stared up at me with wide, still slightly scared eyes. I sighed and stroked her hair, holding her small body closer to mine.

"Whatever you say, dearest," I murmured, pressing my lips to her forehead.

"I'm _not _crazy," she said sharply.

"Of course not. I know you aren't crazy."

We stayed there in silence for a while. She, clutching the front of my shirt and keeping her face pressed into my chest. I, keeping my arms firmly wrapped around her in the safety that she always felt when I did. Finally, she sighed, "I love you."

"I love you, too," I whispered then raised my voice to just a notch below normal level. "So, who was it?" I was going to butcher them. If there was anyone to butcher that is.

"I dunno," she mumbled, "I was too scared to do anything but curl up and scream."

I sighed and shifted so that I was lying back on the bed and she was partially on top of me, still holding onto the fabric of my shirt and still pushing her face into my chest. "Have you been watching those bloody crime shows again?" Her body grew rigid and then slowly, she nodded. I exhaled sharply in exasperation. "Haruhi, how many times have I told you not to watch so much NCIS and CSI?"

"I wasn't," she grumbled.

"What were you watching then?"

"Law and Order."

"That's just as bad," I grunted, sliding my arms tighter around her and turning my body so I could lie on my side facing her.

"I can't help it," she groaned. "They're informational!"

"How? _How to give yourself nightmares and hallucinations 101_?" I asked sarcastically.

"Kyoya! I wasn't hallucinating! Someone was there! And if you hadn't noticed, I'm a _criminal_ _lawyer _for the prosecution!"

I heaved yet another sigh and nodded, though I still didn't agree with her horrible TV habits. Really, watching shows about murder, rape, and other hideous crimes in all your free time couldn't be healthy. Especially when you're a lawyer who had to deal with some of that crap anyway. I had half the mind to sue the station that _ran _those shows just for doing this to her.

"Kyoya," she growled in warning, as if reading my thoughts, "Don't you _dare _sue channel 58 or I'll go against you in court as the defendant." I didn't picture that particular lawsuit turning out very nice. I immediately shunned the idea from my mind and tried to blame this recent horror on something else.

"Well, then," I murmured, pushing my nose into her hair, "It might have been a ghost."

"A ghost? _Really_, Kyoya? Has Tamaki finally gotten to you?"

"Haruhi. The other side of the bed is completely unruffled and you claim that you weren't dreaming and that it wasn't because of TV. What else am I supposed to blame it on?" I lifted my head to look over her head at the clock then. _2 AM_ and we had to have been arguing about the same thing for at least 15 minutes. Unbelieveable what this woman made me do.

"Fine," she moaned, lifting her head as well to glance at the clock. "Dammit. I don't even care anymore. Let's just go to sleep." I nodded in agreement and released her so we could both crawl into bed properly. Once she was cozy I wrapped my arms around her, squeezing lightly.

We were quiet as we tried to drift off to sleep. I couldn't though. It was nagging at me what had possibly happened tonight. Perhaps the ghost theory wasn't as shaky as I'd thought it was. "I'm still going with the ghost hypothesis," I muttered under my breath. She let out a loud ground of annoyance and smacked my chest. I chuckled lowly in reply. "Goodnight, Haruhi," I breathed, pushing a kiss to her lips before letting myself drift off to sleep.

"Goodnight, Kyoya," she whispered back.

–

To this day that night still remains a mystery. Though, occasionally Haruhi still swears that she hears someone rustling around when I'm away on business trips.

Yes. I definitely blame the ghost.

–

**A/N: Written at 2:30 AM when I was struck by sudden inspiration as I was trying to sleep. Well, that and the venti Starbucks frapp that I had at 7 still hasn't _quite _worn off yet. **

**Ever had this happen to you? I have. Only I didn't scream. I just curled up and told myself to go back to sleep because I was imagining things. And I had _also _been watching too many crime shows. Yes, I'm guilty of that free-time obses–hobby. Yes... That's it. Hobby. **

**A bit lengthy this one. At least for my normal one-shots. 3 pages. Don't I feel proud of myself? A bit creepier than the norm too. I hope I don't accidentally give anyone nightmares. **

**Not too many Kudos to give out this time. But that's not surprising. It's only been about... 12 hours since my last update. DOH. Hope-Hazard, BlackestNight BrightestDay, kyouyaootooriandharuhiforever, and Kuramasredredrose. Wait. That's four people. That's enough. Oops. I lied. **


	8. H: Hopelessly Dense

_The Alphabet Notebook _

_By Meganes Ultimate Fangirl _

_H – Hopelessly Dense_

Haruhi was dense, I decided. Utterly, hopelessly _dense_. Before we all thought it was just because she was naïve. But no, she's dense. Why do I say this? Because it took me almost a full year of persistence and careful plans that failed horribly to convince her that there _was _merit in dating her. That sometimes, merit didn't even need to be applied, even when talking to _me_.

She didn't think that even for a moment that I could be anything than what I portrayed to the rest of the world. That I was _always _this cold heartless bastard that only did anything because there was something in it for me.

But I _wasn't _dammit. I _didn't _always do things just because they benefited me. I _didn't _thrive off the pain of others. And I _wouldn't _let her think that, that was all I was.

–

"Kyoya. How long are you going to do this?" Haruhi asked in exasperation as we walked across the college campus to the psychology class that we shared. "Or are you just trying to run me into the ground with your persistence?"

"Until you say yes," I replied promptly, taking longer strides to keep up with her scuttling fast walk. She could just make this easier on both of us and give me chance. It wasn't _that _hard to do. He was only asking her for one damn date. I pushed my glasses up my nose since they'd, once again, slipped down. I really needed to get the nose piece fixed. "And I wasn't, but if that's what it takes then yes, that's what I'm trying to do."

"For the last time. There isn't any benefit in it for you to date a commoner," she snorted. "You're much better off with a rich heiress." Yeah. Sure I was _better off_. But a rich heiress wasn't Haruhi. And I didn't _want _anyone _but _Haruhi Fujioka. God. This girl didn't even realize how crazy she drove me.

She made the same point every time that I tried to ask her out to coffee or dinner. Every time I rebutted with the same thing. It was like a daily routine for us. "Who says that there isn't any benefit?" I retorted angrily.

"What merit is there then?" she asked blandly, looking straight ahead as she kept up her scurrying pace.

"The pleasure of your company, perhaps?" I exclaimed, taking her arm just to make sure that I could keep up with her. Damn. For such a small girl she sure as hell walked pretty damn fast.

Again, she snorted skeptically. "Kyoya. You and I both know that, that isn't a viable source of merit. Pleasure doesn't have a place in the business world does it?"

"It does," I argued, "Marriage has it's pleasures arranged or not!" She turned her head and gave me this look. This searing look that just said 'I'm-not-impressed.' I stared back at her steadily. "Haruhi. Just give me one chance. That's all I'm asking."

"I'm not going to let you do that, Kyoya. I'm not going to let you waste your valuable time trying to make something that almost certainly won't happen work," she replied, turning her eyes back in front of her. We were about to enter the main square. Almost half-way to class. I gritted my teeth inwardly and charged on forward.

"Isn't how I use my time supposed to be my business? And who says it won't work, Haruhi?" I responded, annoyed edge in my voice. I was honestly at my wit's end here. She was driving me crazy. Was it so hard to just said 'yes'?

She ignored my questions and fired her own back at me instead. "What about your honor? Your family's honor? Hmm? How do you think your father would feel knowing that his son was dating someone like me?" I stared at her with this unfathomable look on my face. She talked about herself like she was unworthy trash when she obviously wasn't.

I think, that's when I broke. I just snapped in two like a twig underfoot. The way she spoke about herself from how she thought wealthy people would see her, it made me crack. I'd kept control until that moment but _that _was too much.

Abruptly I increased my own pace to put myself in front of her, stopping her in her tracks successfully. "Is that what you think, I think? Do you think that I'm doing this for some kind of _game _or _joke_?" I asked in a dangerous voice that was slightly louder than the one I'd used before..

"Kyoya," she said softly, looking around at the other people in the main square that were starting to look at us. "Not here." She gave a sketchy look at a small pod of people who were whispering and pointing at us.

"Haruhi," I stated in a hard voice, hands curling into fists at my side, "I don't give a shit about people looking. Screw merit. Screw honor."

She stared at me, flinching slightly at my stone-like words. Maybe she finally got it. "Kyoya. You really don't mean th–."

I gripped her shoulders tightly and cut her off. "Is it _that _hard for you to think that maybe some rich guy might be attracted to you? That _I _might just be doing this because I _want _to? And not because my father wants me to or there's some kind of merit to it? Has that _ever _crossed your mind?" I demanded angrily. "Do you think, that just because you're a commoner it means I want nothing to do with you? Do you think that you're _really _that worthless?" I shook her shoulders, completely ignoring the stares that I'd attracted to us or her surprised expression.

She looked up at me with this look on her face. A confused one. Like she was _still _trying to comprehend what I was telling her. I growled in exasperation and threw my hands in the air. "Forget it. Just forget it. I just wanted one date but obviously I can't get anything through your thick skull. I give up, Haruhi," I muttered, turning on my heel and walking away at a swift pace, fists still clenched.

I could feel her staring holes in the back of my head as I left her behind. I gave up. She was too dense to understand anything. If there was a time that she finally understood what I was trying to tell her, I'd already be dead by that time.

–

I'd been angrily tapping my pen on and off all through the lecture, ceasing only when the professor threw a look at me. I couldn't concentrate on what he was saying through the entire thing. I was too wound up in knots from arguing with Haruhi only an hour earlier. And as much as I wanted to just let go of my anger and pretend like nothing ever happened I couldn't. Her rejection sliced me open like a knife and her incredibly dense nature just poured salt into the wound.

Not only that but I'd lost my temper in the middle of the square. I'd humiliated myself. And it was all her fault. Not that I really cared at the moment, seeing red as I was right now.

I was angry.

No, I was past anger. Now I was just pissed.

Haruhi caught my arm after class. "Kyoya," she murmured. I pulled myself away from her and started walking away. "Kyoya!" She chased after me.

"What?" I snapped, increasing my pace and trying to ignore her presence as she tried to keep up with me. We'd already gotten outside the building and I headed away from the psychology department toward the main square where I could get to my dorm easily through side routes.

For a moment all she did was huff next to me and attempt to keep up. "I'm so–!"

"Save it!" I growled, continuing forward.

"Kyoya, will you ju–?"

"No."

Finally I reached the main square and turned a left. She grabbed my arm and yanked me back. "Will you just listen for a moment?!" she asked in exasperated loudness. I stared at her with a bland expression, waiting for her to continue. "Ask me again." We were drawing stares again when I stared at her incredulously.

"Why?" I asked coldly, "So you can reject me again in front of a ton of people?"

"Just do it, please," she said softly, "Please."

I stared into her eyes and sighed in annoyance. "Fine. Would you like to go out to dinner with me?" This was demeaning. How the hell she could be so cruel as to do this to me in public was beyond me.

But a small smile lit her face and slowly, she nodded. I stared at her as she whispered, "Yes." And then she took my hand and laced her fingers with mine. That was it? God. She was so infuriating. And very slowly, I felt my anger drain away as I felt her fingers gently fitted between mine. "I get to choose the restaurant," she added.

I smirked, just barely containing my relieved, insane laughter.

She really was hopelessly dense.

–

**A/N: Because Kyoya would totally have to lose his temper just to convince Haruhi that he wanted to date her because he wanted to and not because of merit. **

**A bit more intense. And a little lengthy too. Like the last one. But I like it. **

**Kudos to BlackestNight BrightestDay, Hope-Hazard, and Kuramasredredrose. Again, I'm not surprised since this update was in 14 hours. **

**Now to get the mindset together to finish the chapter of LD I'm working on currently. I spell-checked but I didn't check for grammar so if there's mistakes just... look over them? **


	9. I: Icarus and Daedalus

_The Alphabet Notebook_

_By Meganes Ultimate Fangirl _

_I – Icarus and Daedalus_

We all know the story of Icarus and Daedalus right? Yeah, well, my father had used metaphors referring to the story several times before. One of those times was right now, much to my misfortune.

"Father," I stated sharply, "I know of my duties."

He pointed a finger at me. "Don't get all high and mighty, Kyoya. Or you'll plunge straight out of the sky," he retorted. It was something that he said to me often. I knew of the myth that he was referring to when he did this. He thought that by going after a certain brunette girl, I was lowering my standards by too much even though she was extraordinary for a commoner. "She is an intelligent girl," Father conceded to my look, "But she has not proven herself as of yet."

I regarded him from where I was leaning against a table across his office. Not proven herself? That was complete bull! She had proven herself time and time again. To him _and _me. I snorted sarcastically. "Being a top-rate lawyer isn't enough proof for you, Father?"

"That's impressive, yes. But you know as well as I do that jobs don't make a per–."

I cut him off quickly, "Yes, I know that. But you aren't getting it. She _challenges _me. I never know what she's thinking and she's so unpredictable that I find myself doing things just to see her reaction."

"You're in love with her then?" he shot back.

That made me falter. I hadn't exactly confronted my exact feelings for Haruhi as of yet. I closed my mouth, which had opened automatically to retort, and sighed, brain racing to come up with something that could possibly rival the logic of my father. "Those aren't the exact words I'd use. More of, I'm interested in her."

He let out a low chuckle. "Kyoya, my boy. Why else would you come to me asking permission to marry her? Marriage does not come purely from interest."

"Arranged marriage," was all I needed to say to disprove that theory.

My father smirked. "There's no shame in saying that you're in love with her. I was in love with your mother." He had never talked freely about my mother. She had become some kind of a moot topic with him since she had died when I was nine. Now, he was talking about her. Why? "What I'm saying is: if you love her, marry her. I surely won't stop you. Just don't get ahead of yourself or you'll end up melting your wings and drowning in the ocean."

I stared at him. After arguing with him for nearly 20 minutes now he was just agreeing to allow this marriage if I were to propose? Just like that? "There's... something else isn't there?" I asked hesitantly.

He shook his head. "Nothing else. Just my warning."

I nodded, eager now to get out of that office and tell her. "Thank you, Father."

"Remember Icarus and Daedalus, Kyoya," he murmured as farewell.

–

"Kyoya?" Haruhi asked softly, reaching across the dinner table to take my hand. I smiled and stroked the back of her hand with my thumb. "You're awfully quiet," she muttered.

"Content is the word, Haruhi," I mumbled, bring her fingers to my lips.

"Oh? And why – may I ask – are you so content?" she replied, cocking her head to the side in that special way she did. I smirked. How to tell her?

"I had an... interesting conversation with my father today."

"About what?" She sounded surprised. I gave her this look that made her eyebrows furrow. "Me?" I nodded. "Why were you talking about me?" I shook my head and wiped my mouth with my napkin, standing and pulling her with me. She looked at me strangely. "Kyoya?"

"Just... bear with me," I murmured, leaning down to kiss her but she pulled away.

"What's going on?" she asked in a low voice, staring intently into my eyes. I sighed and pulled her out the door of the restaurant, waving at the manager on the way out. There was a car conveniently waiting for us outside. Haruhi turned to me expectantly as soon as I had settled myself next to her.

I looked at her, just watching her face change for a moment. She seemed nervous. And I realized something. Finally, she sighed with exasperation. "Kyoya, why were you and your father talking about me?" Her voice held my attention in this way that made my heart pound oddly.

Dammit. He'd been right. He'd been straight on the money. Her chocolate eyes still stared at me. Dammit. I was Icarus and I'd already fallen straight into the ocean, against my father's warning. "Haruhi," I said softly, "I asked him if he would support me if I were to propose to you." Her eyes widened, shock holding its place on all of her features. I brought a hand to her face. "Don't look so surprised. You had to have sensed _something_."

She shook her head and took the hand that I had cupping her face. "I did. But I didn't expect it to be _that_."

I smirked. "It seems that I'm just as unpredictable as you are sometimes then." And then, I said something that not even I expected myself to say. "Haruhi, I... I might just have fallen in love with you." She smiled and nodded in understanding.

"And... Same to you," she mumbled, pushing her face into my shoulder and gripping my arm. I pulled it out of her grasp gently and wrapped it around her.

Yes, I was Icarus. But just with those words, she had saved me from melting my wings and drowning.

–

**A/N: So corny and crappily written. Ohgod. But I couldn't think of anything else. And it's been like... a week since I got anything up. You all must be so deprived! I'm sorrrrrry! **

**I assume that most know the story of Icarus and Daedalus. Daedalus was Icarus' father. He built wings out of wax and feathers so they could escape their prison on Crete. He warned his son not to fly too high to the sun or too low to the ocean. Icarus disobeyed, flew too high, and plunged to his death. **

**Kudos to: Hope-Hazard, Kuramasredredrose, BlackestNight BrightestDay, and LostInASeaOfGarnetAndAmethyst. Thank you for your lovely support~ **

**I think... I have an idea for the next one. But knowing me, I'll get wrapped up in working on my book and I'll feel the need to update LD before this again. **


	10. J: Jokes with Jealousy

_The Alphabet Notebook _

_By Meganes Ultimate Fangirl _

_J – Jokes with Jealousy_

I narrowed my eyes at the brunette who was standing across the room, laughing casually with a red-haired male who happened to be a rival of mine. A light hue of pink tinged her cheeks. I felt my hand tighten unconsciously on my wineglass as she glanced my way briefly before placing her hand on the arm of the redhead.

The corners of my lips twitched unpleasantly as I took a sip of my drink. Two could play at that game.

I made sure she was watching before heading toward the daughter of one of my father's business partners. "Excuse me, Michiru-san. Would you care to dance?" I asked smoothly, catching Haruhi purse her lips out of the corner of my eye. I had to hold back the smirk that was threatening to come loose.

"Um. O-Of course, Ohtori-san," she mumbled, her face turning slightly red.

"Kyoya-san will do just fine," I chided lightly, turning on my Host Club given charm. To this her face flushed red as a tomato. I knew Haruhi could hear me. None of the women here would know what was going on between us. We'd kept our relationship strictly discreet, even from the other Host Club members.

I knew it was wrong to want to get a reaction out of my girlfriend, but she was asking for it. Besides, she needed to know what it felt like every now and then. "A-Alright Kyoya-san," Michiru stuttered. Inwardly, I smirked as I led her to the dance floor, feeling Haruhi's scorching chocolate eyes burn a hole in the back of my head.

I ignored her, twirling Michiru around. I suppressed a chuckle as the brunette frowned and tugged Hikaru out onto the dance floor, though it slightly irked me that she would dance with the older Hitachiin when she knew he had feelings for her.

The song ended shortly after it started and I led the girl I had been dancing with back to the group of friends that I'd taken her from. The girls surrounded her, giggling their heads off at her luck. I rolled my eyes inwardly and caught Haruhi's eye as I strode toward the staircase that led to my bedroom. That was the nice thing about these parties that my father hosted. I could disappear up a staircase for a while and no one would question it.

–

I was sitting on the couch in my room, checking stocks on my laptop when Haruhi came through the door looking decidedly annoyed. She stood in front of me, tapping her foot for a moment. I glanced up at her with a single raised eyebrow. "Yes, Haruhi?"

She removed her tongue from her cheek and snapped at me, "Was that necessary?"

"Was what necessary?" I asked innocently, loving her reactions. It was just too amusing to rub her the wrong way.

If looks could kill the glare that Haruhi shot my way would have murdered me violently on the spot. I let a small smirk come to my lips as I closed the top of my laptop and pushed it aside. "You know very well _what_," she growled. That I did. But I figured it was more fun to mess with her for a while longer.

"I don't believe I do, _dearest_," I murmured, clicking my tongue lightly and turning my eyes away from her slightly. Any use of a pet name normally got her annoyed. Especially when she was already pissed.

"Kyoya," she hissed in warning.

"I honestly have no clue what you're talking about, Haruhi," I replied tersely. Her foot started tapping impatiently again. Yes, this was definitely amusing.

"Michiru-san," she managed to spit out from between gritted teeth. My eyebrows shot up in mock shock.

"What about her?" I asked, feigning disinterest.

"You were dancing with her."

"And? Last I heard dancing with patrons at my own party was perfectly acceptable."

Haruhi's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Have you forgotten who your girlfriend is?" It was funny how such silly, childish games were now turning into a serious argument. And the accusation that was so clearly present in her voice didn't help my rebelling urge to smack down every inch of doubt in her mind that I was hers and hers alone.

"Have _you_ forgotten that _that _is supposed to be a secret?" I shot back with a snort, standing and draining what remained of the wine sitting in the bottom of my glass. The alcohol burned down my throat but I ignored it. She was calling me out on dancing when she'd been doing the same thing with Hikaru. That was enough to get my blood boiling slightly.

"'_Kyoya-san will do just fine_,'" she quoted with a scowl.

"I was merely being polite," I stated with an air of superiority that I really shouldn't have been using with her. "Why? Are you _jealous _by any chance?"

She huffed indignantly, scoffing, "Jealous? As if."

"Weren't you the one that was doing the same thing with Hikaru?" I continued hotheadedly. It wasn't the best idea to hint that her little show with Hikaru had bothered me. Especially when I was accusing her of being jealous.

Haruhi's eyes widened for a moment before a small smile took residence on her face. "Is that what this is about?"

"I thought it was you who was accusing me of outwardly turning a blind eye on our relationship," I muttered, narrowing my eyes at her.

"Kyoya," she murmured, a determined matter-of-fact tone to her voice, "You're jealous of Hikaru."

I snorted, pushing my glasses up my nose in nervous habit. "Absurd." Kyoya Ohtori. Jealous. The absurdity of the entire thing made this argument all the more ridiculous. She took a few steps towards me, that blasted knowing smile ever present on her face.

"You are," she stated, her smile widening.

"Isn't that what you were trying to do in the first place?" I snapped.

She turned her eyes to the ceiling in thought for a moment, taking a few more strides toward me. "I... wasn't aiming for it," she mumbled, "It _was _rather amusing to watch you get all worked up about it. Isn't that why you went to Michiru-san though? To get _me _all worked up."

Damn her. I felt my anger draining as she started voicing what we both knew was happening here.

"It was all just a game. A joke," I stated, tilting my head at her curiously. She nodded, a small laugh escaping from her deliciously pink lips.

"And we both got worked up for nothing," she finished, shaking her head and chuckling. I sighed and took her hand, pulling her the last few steps toward me. "Jealousy is a mean thing to toy with, you know, Kyoya," she muttered, "The misunderstanding of it all could easily have torn us apart just now." I nodded, rested my chin on the top of her head. She leaned her head against my chest, her arms wrapping around my waist.

"No more jokes," I murmured, reading her mind.

I could hear her smile. "Agreed."

Note to self. Don't makes jokes with jealousy. Unless you have the desirable urge to lose the one person dear to you.

–

**A/N: D'aww. How cute. **

**Guess who's sick again? And who's also fighting writer's block, mild depression, and school pressures? I think you all can guess why my updates are going to be a bit slower than normal. **

**I've been listening to an increasing amount of music lately. And that's aiding the fight against writer's block. Expect one or more one-shots that're based off song lyrics pretty soon. As well as one that I meant to finish about 3 weeks ago when I got sidetracked by life. **

**Kudos to Hope-Hazard, BlackestNight BrightestDay, SarahNThatcher, Scherherazade, LostInASeaOfGarnetAndAmethyst, and Kuramasredredrose (I tried to make your jazz idea work but it just wasn't flowing well. Sorry!) **

**Till next time! **


	11. K: Kitten from the Shelter

_The Alphabet Notebook _

_By Meganes Ultimate Fangirl _

_K – Kitten from the Shelter_

"Haruhi!" I called loudly from the kitchen, eying the fluffy monstrosity sitting in the cardboard box on the counter by the fridge cautiously. Its yellow eyes stared at me, hauntingly almost. And the strange film over one of said eyes didn't help in the slightest. A shudder ran down my spine as it mewed pathetically.

Yes. There was a cat in our kitchen. And it was creeping me, the great Kyoya Ohtori, out.

"Yes, Kyoya?" she yelled back, huffing from the front door where she was carrying groceries in from the car. She appeared from around the corner a few moments later, lugging a shopping bag on each arm and balancing a third in the middle. I pointed at the kitten in the box.

"What is _that_?" I asked incredulously, flinching slightly as it meowed again.

"A kitten I rescued from the animal shelter," she replied softly, striding over and setting the bags on the counter next to the box before stroking its head with a single finger. She cooed softly at it before turning back to me. "She's blind in one eye."

I stared at her blankly. "And why on earth did you rescue it if its blind in one eye?" I deadpanned shortly, a scowl set on my face.

"One, _it _is a _she_. Two, her name is Karomi."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. Why did you rescue _Karomi _then?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. There was no way that we were keeping that thing. I wouldn't allow it.

She scowled at me in annoyance, scooping the small pathetic thing out of the box with one hand. _It _(I refuse to call it a she) mewed pleasantly and started purring, rubbing against Haruhi's other hand. The brunette giggled softly and replied, "Because she's cute, she needed a home, and we sure as hell have enough money and time to take care of her."

My frown deepened. "Take it back," I growled.

"No," she stated stubbornly, "_She_ won't bother you any."

"Haruhi," I muttered reasonably, "You can't keep it. Take it back."

"_She _won't do any damage. And I'll take care of her. You won't even have to look at her if you don't want to," she argued. God, she sounded like she was a little kid begging to keep a pet that she'd picked up off the street. The kitten, seemingly sensing the incoming argument, ducked its head, shivering visibly.

"It'll be in my house. Therefore I'll be forced to look at it. Take it back."

"It's my house too," she muttered, narrowing her eyes at me. "I won't take her back, Kyoya. Live with it."

I threw my hands up in the air. "Fine. You take care of it. You feed it. You brush it. You rid it of fleas. But the second that it destroys any of my things or misbehaves, it goes back."

She smiled softly and nodded. "Alright, love. Thanks," she mumbled, pecking my lips quickly before setting the small tabby back in its box and carrying said box out of the kitchen with her.

Something told me I was going to regret letting that _thing _live under my roof.

–

"_HARUHI!_" I yelled, glaring daggers at the now 8-month-old feline who had made itself right at home by shredding and sleeping on one of my favorite suits. Damn cat. Damn all animals. They're nuisances and not worth anything other than to provide food for the human race.

My wife came running. "What?" she asked frantically, "What is it–?" she cut herself off when she caught sight of the cat that I was pointing at angrily, practically shaking in my fury. "Oh shit."

"Yeah... Oh shit," I whispered furiously from between gritted teeth, "My suit. My _Armani _suit. I told you. Now take it back."

She grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck with one hand. "Umm. After... after six months it's impossible to reverse the adoption," she mumbled, stuttering slightly. I glared at her.

"What?" I hissed.

"I... can't take her back now, Kyoya," she muttered, ducking her head as if I were about to hit her. "You have about 5 of those suits you know." What did she mean she _couldn't take it back_? Just drop it off at the damn shelter again! Simple as that! "Sorry," she added, flinching at my glare. "I... love you?"

My glare increased intensity. "That won't get you out of anything this time, _Fujioka_," I stated coldly, feeling the temperature of the room drop with my mood.

She sighed and pushed past me, picking up the furry creature in her arms and scuttling out of the room. "I'll get your damn suit replaced then," she grumbled, "Come on, Karomi."

–

I was still pissed about my suit when Haruhi crawled into bed that night, completely exhausted. I, however, wouldn't let her near me as she attempted to curl up against me like she normally did. She finally sighed in exasperation and turned over angrily. "Goodnight, Kyoya."

I ignored her goodnight, continuing to take my anger out on the keys of my computer. Not 10 minutes later, the cat hopped lightly up on the bed, purring and everything. It plopped itself down between my wife and I, curling up and staring at me with its creepy yellow eyes over its paws. I glared at it. It tilted its head. "Go away," I growled at it. "Shoo."

Karomi stood and took a few steps forward instead. It was just asking to be kicked off the bed. I scowled darkly at it and decided to ignore its pleas for attention, turning back to my stocks.

I blinked when I found the bloody cat sitting in front of my screen, purring its little heart out. "Shoo!" I muttered, pushing it aside gently. Haruhi would have my head if I hurt it, unfortunately. Otherwise I would have bludgeoned it to death already.

Next to me, Haruhi groaned, stirring in her sleep. Karomi wouldn't leave me alone. She kept trying to curl up on my lap. "Dammit, cat," I hissed unhappily, finally giving up. I closed my laptop and set it on the bedside table. She just blinked, looking quite pleased with herself as she made herself comfortable on my chest after I settled myself in bed.

Haruhi turned over and stared at me blearily before smiling. "She likes you," she murmured, reaching out to pet the little creature. The feline's purrs grew louder until it overpowered any other noise. Haruhi laughed softly, I glanced at her. She seemed happy with our little pet. And I had already found a replacement suit in the closet. I let out a sigh and lifted arm to let my wife curl up against me as she had tried to previously. Her smile widened. "I take it you aren't angry anymore."

I stared at the cat instead of answering her. When Karomi's eyes were closed she didn't look so creepy. I regarded her with a blank face for a moment, making the decision that she wasn't that bad of company before shrugging in Haruhi's direction. "I'm still mad. Just to a lesser degree," I muttered, kissing the top of her brunette head.

She just nodded and smirked. "Whatever you say, love. Goodnight."

I yawned and stroked Karomi's head lightly before reaching over to turn off the light. "Goodnight, Haruhi," I whispered.

–

**A/N: Prompt from Kuramasredredrose. Kudos to LostInASeaOfGarnetAndAmethyst, Kuramasredredrose, and Hope-Hazard. **

**Rather faster update than I expected. But I'm procrastinating and attempting to fight the writer's block that's currently forcing me to put a hold on LD and my novel. It's annoying. I've been in the same place on both for nearly a week now. Gaah. If someone makes writer's block magically disappear I'll give them a life-supply of cookies AND Kudos. **


	12. L: Lost Lawyers

_The Alphabet Notebook_

_By Meganes Ultimate Fangirl _

_L – Lost Lawyers (Lawyers Read As: Sharks)_

I clenched my fist at my side, a dangerous glint on my glasses and my cellphone held to my ear. This man... _My lawyer_, was a bastard. A sneaky conniving son of a bitch. "Ohtori-san?" he asked. Not only had he lost me a three million yen lawsuit but now he had the balls to call me again after he had lost said lawsuit. After 10 at night.

I forced pleasantries into my voice and answered, "Yes, Tiru-san?" I couldn't keep the sharp edge out of my voice.

"I didn't mean to bother you at such a late hour, but I was wondering when I was going to get my payment."

I gritted my teeth and imagined myself strangling this insufferable lawyer – no, _shark_. I pulled up my contract with him on the computer that was sitting on my lap. "Ah yes. How much do I owe you again?" I asked with fake politeness as my eyes scanned the section titled _Payment of the Lawyer_. I smirked, suddenly very pleased with myself for slipping the last little clause in under his shark senses.

"900,000 yen, Sir," he replied promptly.

I almost let out a grin of giddiness that really shouldn't have been there. Losing nearly a million yen was no laughing matter. My father was displeased as it was with the loss of the lawsuit I'd had under control. "Really, now?" I asked with mock interest, "I was under the impression that you had _lost _a 3 million yen lawsuit against my, now ex, wife."

"That does not deter the fact that you are due a payment."

"Tiru-san, have you looked at our contract recently?"

"Err. Yes, Ohtori-san."

"Then you're aware that under section 6, subsection 4, clause 12B, I'm not obliged to pay you in full because you failed to win me a _very _important case." He was spluttering in shock. "Because of this, under clause 12C, I also have the right to deduct your monthly pay by 50 percent and/or fire or suspend you without pay for an indefinite amount of time. How much am I paying you a month again?"

Tiru seemed to regain his posture right then. "100,000 yen."

I snorted. I was really paying this bastard that much plus nearly a million more per case? How did _that _escape my better judgment? This lawyer really was a shark. "Well then, "I stated coldly, all sense of politeness and pleasantries gone. "I believe that it goes without saying that I'm deducting your case pay by 50 percent as well as your monthly. No, wait. Scratch that. You will receive half of your case pay. However, you, Tiru-san, are _fired_. If you dare to try to take this up in court, I suggest that you acquire a lawyer that is better than yourself."

My shark of an ex-lawyer was fuming quietly on the other end. "You'll pay for this Ohtori!"

"Oh really?" I mused, very pleased with his threats. "If you keep threatening me in such an obscene manner I think I'll be forced to withhold your final pay for an indefinite amount of time. Now, good day to you, Tiru-san." I snapped my phone shut without waiting for a reply, marking the contract with the shark as _TERMINATED_. I flipped open my phone again and dialed a familiar number. One that I hadn't used in years. "Ranka-san?"

"Kyoya-kun!" Ranka gasped in surprise, "It's been such a long time! How have you been?"

"I'm well as I hope you are as well. However, I'm calling for a different reason at the moment."

"Ehhhh? You aren't calling to catch up?"

"Unfortunately, no. I've been quite busy and I apologize for that," I murmured, "I'm actually wondering if you can inform me of how to contact Haruhi."

"Ohhh! Looking to rekindle old flames, eh?" he laughed. I twitched slightly. This might not be the best idea, calling my ex-fiancée in order to recruit her into being my new lawyer. She was truly one of the best lawyers out there and I was almost positive that she wasn't such a shark. I also wouldn't have to pay her as much as I'd been paying that bastard, Tiru.

Instead I decided to humor the cross-dresser. "In a way, yes."

Haruhi's father laughed. "Oh goodness, Kyoya-kun! Hold on, I have her number here somewhere!" I waited patiently while he rustled around some papers in search for the one with Haruhi's number on it. "Ah! Here it is!" he exclaimed, rattling off a number that I hurriedly wrote down.

"Thank you, Ranka-san," I muttered.

"Call me again when you aren't busy, alright? We have so much to talk about!"

"Of course. Goodbye."

"Bye, Kyoya-kun~!"

I snapped my phone shut for the second time that day, smirking as I dialed the number given to me. She picked up on the third ring. I wasn't surprised that she was still up. "Hello?"

I couldn't help the slight increase in my heart rate when I heard her voice and replied, "Hello, Haruhi."

–

The next day I was sitting across the table from Haruhi in a small secluded cafe. She had her arms crossed over her chest and a frown set on her face. Like she'd prefer to be anywhere but talking to me during her lunch hour. I was quiet as I stirred my coffee until she finally burst, "What do you want, Kyoya?"

I smirked. "I assume you've heard about my recent divorce?" Her face softened slightly with sympathy and a great amount of surprise as well. Apparently she hadn't heard this recent bit on my relationship status as the rest of the world seemed to. She snapped right out of her sympathy through.

"If you're here to try to talk me into taking you back you can sa–!"

"Haruhi," I cut in sharply, "I am not here to manipulate you into another relationship with me." _'Though the idea isn't _that_ unappealing,' _I added wryly in my mind. "Surely you must have heard _something _of my divorce?" She shook her head sheepishly. I licked my lips dryly. She was a top lawyer and yet she still didn't own a television? "Allow me to inform you," I murmured, "3 million yen lawsuit ensued. I lost."

"What does this have to do with me?" she asked in her same blunt manner.

I let out a short bark of laughter. "Do you really think I'd allow that lawyer keep his job after losing a case like _that_?" I muttered bitterly.

A bead of sweat ran down the side of her face. "No."

"Exactly. Therefore, this pertains to you as I'm willing to hire you as my new lawyer." I rested my elbows on the table in front of me and pressed my fingertips together in a steeple, awaiting her reaction.

She stared at me with her mouth slightly open for a moment. "W-Why me?"

"Haruhi," I started, "Lawyers... Are sharks." She snorted indignantly and opened her mouth to retort. I stared her down for a moment. "Let me finish. You, Haruhi, are a top rate lawyer. And one of a very few top rate lawyers who are _not _sharks who are merely after my money. And, I know you personally and know for a fact that you would never take advantage of me."

"Ahh," she mumbled, slumping in her seat a little. "But my law firm–."

"You are free to stay with that firm and continue your work there. I just ask that you become my personal lawyer on top of that and represent me in court when it is needed. Think of it as an opportunity to earn a little extra money. How much are you being right now?"

She glanced at me suspiciously before uttering, "200,000 yen per case. Plus 50,000 monthly."

I snorted. "Unbelievable," I muttered under my breath. "And to think I was paying that bastard 900,000 a case plus 100,000 a month."

"What?" she asked with a frown and wide eyes.

"Nothing, nothing. I'm willing to pay you 500,000 yen or more per case, depending on the urgency. Plus 100,000 a month." Her eyes bugged out and she choked up on her coffee, coughing radically.

"W-_What_?" she gasped between her bouts of coughing. "That more than double my salary!"

I smirked at her reaction. "That was the point."

"What the _hell _do _you _have to gain from this?"

"A lawyer who does _not _squander me and wins all cases that are presented to her," I stated simply, sipping my coffee. "And of course, the merit to accepting is obvious for you. So, what do you say?"

She stared at me for a moment with an odd look in her eye. "Alright. Deal," she muttered after over a minute of contemplation. She reached across the table and shook my head. I shot her a genuine smile.

"Thank you, Haruhi," I murmured, standing and straightening my business suit.

"Not a problem, Kyoya."

"I'll be in touch with the contract within a few days." She nodded and smiled at me. I returned it with my own brilliant one. A slight ache started in my chest when she turned to leave the cafe. I'd never wanted to let her go. It was father pushing it on me. An arranged marriage that had been doomed from the start. All that it had led to was divorce. But Haruhi and I... I was sure that we would have lasted if we'd been allowed to marry. Before I could stop myself I asked, "Are you seeing anyone?"

She spun around so fast that I thought she was about to topple over. Her eyes were narrowed. "I knew it," she muttered, glaring at me. "I _knew _you weren't here just for a business proposition." She crossed her arms over her chest while I shook my head. "If you must know, yes, I am."

Despite my better judgment I felt a spike of jealous pierce through my chest. "Who?" I demanded softly, voice constricting slightly with unspoken emotion. If it was any of those idiots I might just think about taking back my offer of giving her a job.

"That isn't any of your business. I'll remind you that you were the one that gave me up. I wanted nothing more than to marry you," she growled with narrowed eyes.

I stared at her, feeling the guilt of leaving her 3 years ago hit me again 10 fold. "It wasn't my idea," I replied hotly, "If I had gotten my way, we'd already be going on our fourth year."

She sighed and shook her head. "Then why didn't you act on it? Why didn't you defy your father for once?" she murmured, turning abruptly and hurrying out of the small cafe.

It was clear as I watched her walk away. I'd lost my chance with her. I'd lost it the moment that I'd given in to the whims of my father. I'd lost her to another man and now she wouldn't be anything more than my reluctant lawyer.

–

**A/N: Prompt given to me by my best friend when I was in a block. Thought this collection needed a bit of angst to mix in with all the fluff and I obviously feel like abusing characters at the moment. Therefore, this is the result. There'll probably be a few more angsty ones like this. Such as the one that I have in mind for W, but that won't be for awhile (obviously). **

**Yes, I'm still in a block with LD. And I apologize to those of you who read it. It's easier to write from prompts than a continuous plotline at the moment. **

**Kudos to: Hope-Hazard, Flora-chan, LostInASeaOfGarnetAndAmethyst, Kuramasredredrose, and Scherherazade. Thank you for your continuous support with this project! :D **


	13. M: Moments After A Lifetime

_The Alphabet Notebook _

_By Meganes Ultimate Fangirl _

_M – Moments After a Lifetime_

There are many moments in my life with Haruhi that I wish were different. And there are others, of which are billions more in number, that I wish I could relive over, and over, and over again. Of those moments very few I actually cherish and hold especially close to my heart. Of those very few there are two that will forever live in my memory, even after death.

–

I smiled at my wife of over 50 years, clutching her frail 78-year-old body close to me as we lay in bed. She smiled as well, pushing herself even closer to my warmth, but her smile was sadder than it normally was. "What is it?" I asked gently, cupping her chin with my hand.

"Kyoya," she mumbled quietly, as if afraid to break the comfortable silence that had fallen over the room. "Promise me that when we die, we'll die together." I frowned at her in incomprehension. "If you die, I'll die with you and if I die, you'll die with me," she clarified briefly.

I laughed softly. "Haruhi, you know I can't promise that," I murmured, "I can control a lot of things but nature isn't one of them."

That sad smile lit her face again. "I know."

But I wasn't smiling anymore. Because I knew there was something bothering her. Something that she wanted to tell me but didn't want to at the same time. "Haruhi, what's wrong?"

I saw tears pricking at her eyes as she opened her mouth and dropped the bombshell, "Kyoya, I'm... dying."

"W-What?"

"I'm _dying_," she repeated, holding a hand to my face and pressing her forehead to mine. "I have terminal breast cancer. I didn't tell you because I didn't want to worry you." A few lone tears trickled down her cheeks as I stared at her, mouth open in shock.

"No you aren't," I said lowly.

"Yes I am."

This wasn't just another one of her April Fool's jokes. I could tell by the tears running down her face and the fact that the calendar said it was January 8th. "You... You're serious aren't you?" She nodded silently, pressing a kiss to my lips.

"I'm sorry," she whispered repeatedly as she kissed me. "Don't be mad. Please, don't be mad."

I shook my head and pulled her head to my chest. Now everything made sense. The huge clumps of her hair in the shower. Her sudden compulsion to wear a hat all the time. Her mysterious visits to places that she wouldn't comment on. Her suddenly pained expressions when we were doing perfectly ordinary things.

"How long?" I muttered, keeping my eyes shut to keep in the tears threatening to spill over my own eyes. "How long have you known?"

She sniffled and answered, "6 months."

"And how long has it been since they declared it terminal?"

"They just told me today. My body's stopped responding to treatments."

Finally, I drew in a deep breath, trying to calm myself enough to ask the last 'how long' question. The big one. "How much longer?" I choked.

She licked her lips, a soft sob racking her body. "Anywhere from 6 weeks to 5 years." She gave me that pleading look right after she answered. That same pleading look that just begged me not to be angry with her for not telling me sooner. I pressed my lips to hers in silent reassurance that I wasn't mad at her. She broke down in my arms, shuddering. "I'm scared," she whispered, "I'm scared, Kyoya."

I nodded, holding her as tightly as I'd allow myself to now that I knew her condition. "So am I," I mumbled, burying my nose in her hair. "But I'll be here with you the entire time."

"They said that it's going to hurt a lot."

I knew that. I knew it was going to hurt. Hurt her physically. Hurt me mentally and emotionally for having to watch her go through the complete agony that I'd seen cancer patients go through in the hospital all those years ago. It was going to hurt like hell. But there was nothing we could do but hold each other through it.

So, I breathed, "I know," and "I love you," and held her as she fell asleep very slowly.

–

8 years later, Haruhi was still alive but she was in pain constantly. So much that she cried herself to sleep every night and that I'd hold her and cry with her as she did so. Tonight was one of those nights. "It hurts," she sobbed into my chest, clutching the front of my shirt so hard I thought she was going to pierce the skin of her palms _through _the fabric of the shirt, "It hurts so much."

And I, being the loving husband that I was, held her and rocked her back and forth, whispering, "I know it does. I know. But I love you," as I felt my own tears threatening to pour as they had every night for almost the past year.

"I love you, too," she choked. After that the room was silent for several minutes, save for Haruhi's sobs and soft cries of pain.

When I finally couldn't take it, I stole her sobs away by kissing her. When I drew away her sobs were lessening and she finally fell into an almost calm state. "Haruhi," I murmured, "When you die, so will I."

She smiled sadly and replied, "I thought you said that you couldn't promise me that." She winced and held back a cry as pain pushed through her entire being.

I pulled in a shuddering sigh. "I'm promising you now... When you die of this horrible... _thing_, I'll die too. But I'll die of a broken heart."

She stared at me, looking into my eyes as both of ours filled with tears. "Kyoya," she choked as I pushed my lips to hers as gently as I could.

"I love you, Haruhi. So I'll die of a broken heart when you die."

And right there in that bed as we stared at each other, crying, suddenly we knew that it was her last night. We both knew that when I woke up, I'd be holding her but she wouldn't really be there. We knew that when I woke up, warm, she'd be cold.

This thought just made us cry harder. We cried and cried until we were so exhausted that we fell asleep.

–

I woke the next morning, feeling Haruhi in my arms. I smiled as I had many mornings and brushed her hair out of her eyes so I could get a better look at her peaceful face. But there was something wrong with that peaceful face this morning as I called her name softly, "Haruhi."

She didn't respond so I tried again, "Haruhi." Still nothing. "Haruhi!"

Her hands were cold. Her hands were cold so I brought my hand to her neck, also feeling the coolness of it as I felt absolutely no pulse within her. Her soul had fled her body while we were sleeping. I drew a shaky breath and pulled her body close to me, crying silently in mourning.

When my only son came by an hour later to check on his mother he found me there, holding her to my chest but no longer crying. My tears had dried up. "Dad?" he called from the door. He looked over the sight he was seeing again. "Is Mom...?"

"Yes," I choked, "Last night. In her sleep."

Almost at once, my 54-year-old son, whom I had taught to be so strong, broke down, collapsing on the floor at my feet and kissing Haruhi, his mother's forehead. I watched the sight with dead eyes. "Mom," he whispered, "I hope you're somewhere happy now where you don't feel any more pain."

I started sobbing again. And he shifted up onto the bed and pulled me into a hug. "You'll have to call your sisters," I said after awhile. "I don't think I can talk to them. They sound too much like..." He merely nodded, accepting the task without argument.

–

At the funeral I ended my speech with the story of Haruhi's very last night. "I told her that when she died, I'd die of a broken heart. And I have. I'm not really here in front of you. I am and always will be with her."

And that day, I was pretty sure it was the first day that any of my children, grandchildren, or _great_-grandchildren had ever seen me cry. As it was the first day that I'd even let Tamaki and Mori, the last living members of the Host Club, see me cry.

But it's those moments that I'd cherish for the rest of my life. Because it was those moments were the last moments that I'd spent with my precious Haruhi.

–

**A/N: In Memory of Christian Weber who died of cancer in March. When all his suffering became too much, we all knew that we had to let him go. **

**I have to say that I bawled like a baby all the way through this one. And it only exists because I happened to be thinking about Chris late at night and started crying. (Yes, as cynical and creepy as I sound sometimes I do cry.) **

**Kudos to: Scherherazade, Kuramasredredrose, LostInASeaOfGarnetAndAmethyst, Hope-Hazard, BlackestNight BrightestDay, and SarahNThatcher. **

**Kyoya seems a bit OOC. But I'm defending that with a wild shout of, "HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF YOUR SPOUSE OF OVER 50 YEARS WAS DYING/DEAD?" **

**(P.S. I really hope I didn't depress anyone into a coma with this.) **


	14. N: Narcotics

_The Alphabet Notebook _

_By Meganes Ultimate Fangirl _

_N – Narcotics _

After that car accident, I'd been on Vicodin for the blasted pain that shot up my left leg every time I took a step. I'd had surgery on it even and it hadn't stopped. I'd done everything I possibly could to get it to stop and it still seemed that narcotics were the only thing that helped in the slightest.

Haruhi had been in that car with me. We'd been on our way to our monthly dinner with the Host Club. The stupid driver had had a little too much to drink and ran a red light, not only totaling the car but also landing me in the hospital for nearly three months and Haruhi for one. Two people from the other two cars died and only one escaped unscathed.

Of course, I'd fired the driver of that car as soon as I was lucid enough to start yelling at nurses with only slightly slurred words.

As far as I knew, Haruhi had completely recovered from the entire ordeal. At least, she had frequently visited me while I was still in the hospital.

The pain in that stupid leg was almost unbearable even after the surgery and other extensive measures had been done. I have a very high threshold for pain but even that threshold couldn't stand this, this constantly_ burning fire_, this _gunshot _that went up with every godforsaken step I took. I'd been close to resigning myself to a wheelchair for the rest of my life at one point.

Fuyumi said that I was downright unpleasant to live with after I was released from the hospital, trying to fake that it _didn't _hurt to walk. Of course, the agony had made me irritable and distasteful. It was understandable enough. Anyone in the same position would have been.

After about two weeks I'd gotten fed up with it and written myself a prescription for Vicodin. One pill twice a day numbed it very well. In fact, after I started on it I was quite content.

Until Haruhi found out how long I'd been on it.

She looked at me curiously, gazing in my eyes as if she were trying to see what kind of torture I was going through. "Narcotics, Kyoya? Really? For that long? Is that healthy?"

I snorted. "Of course not. But it's better than the alternative," I retorted, scribbling something in on a patient's chart before continuing to the next room. She followed me.

"And what's the alternative?"

I stopped in my tracks for a moment before answering her. "Pain, Haruhi. That's generally what narcotics are used for. To relieve pain." I continued down the hall, coming to the door quickly. I greeted the waiting hospital patient and asked him a few questions while Haruhi waited by the door, tapping her foot impatiently. A few minutes, a shot of morphine in an IV line and I moved on.

She still hadn't dropped the subject. "Have you ever thought that the pain might've lessened or went away while you were trying to numb it and now the drugs are just hurting your body?" I almost glared at her. She wasn't the doctor. I was. Let her go to med school for 4 years and then she could tell me what affects the drugs might be having on my body.

"I have. But trust me, it hasn't." I shook my head. It would never stop. It never had, even when I'd paused briefly in my doses for a day or two every month to check.

She got this look on her face as she thought. I resisted the urge to snort. "Was it... Was it from the crash?" she asked softly. I nodded, feeling bitter at the mere thought of what that single goddamn car accident had done to me. She stared at me. "You know that was a year ago right?"

"I know perfectly well how long ago it was," I replied, pushing my glasses up my nose. It wasn't like I was counting days or anything. But it really wasn't hard to forget how long it had been when your meds were set in daily dosages.

"Then why hasn't it stopped? Didn't you have surgery?"

"Yes," I muttered stiffly, "I had surgery. And I did physical therapy. And I tried everything medically possible but it doesn't stop. It _never stops._"

She was silent as we reached the next room, not wanting to interrupt any encounter that I might have to have with the patient. This one happened to be in a coma, however, so all I had to do was put a tally on the day count and scribble down a few notes on the stability onto the clipboard at the end of the bed. She noticed this particular patient's silence and continued, "So you resorted to abusing narcotics. Nice one." That normal blunt tone was present along with a slight hint of sarcasm.

I glared at her. "Care to suggest something else, _Dr_. _Haruhi_?" I stated with sarcasm dripping off my every word.

She stared at me for a moment and then mumbled, "How long has it been since you stopped it for awhile to see if the pain was bearable?"

I hesitated. "I stopped hoping that it would go away after 3 months. You do the math."

She choked up, seemingly on nothing. I looked at her like she had grown a second head. "6 _months_? You've been on _non-stop Vicodin _for _6 months_?"

"Yes," I replied calmly, not at all affected by her outburst. "Like I said. It's better than the alternative."

"Is it _really _that bad?"

"Yes. Why else would I risk my health?"

She just shook her head and brought a hand to it as if she were trying to comprehend some complicated mathematical equation. "You're... You..." she paused as she tried to find the right words. "You're an _idiot_."

"Who's the doctor, Haruhi?" I raised and eyebrow at her. She shot me a look that told me to shut up.

"You're addicted," she stated with disbelief, "You're addicted to a narcotic. I can't believe this. I thought you were smarter than that!"

I gritted my teeth slightly. "I'm not addicted to anything, Haruhi." It was then that I realized we were still in the coma patient's room. She'd actually made this into some debate that was big enough to distract me from the work that I should be doing.

"Then stop using the Vicodin."

I closed my eyes, rubbing my temple in annoyance. "You don't understand."

"Yes I do. You're addicted to Vicodin so you're afraid to stop."

I burst slightly at the seams right then. Before I could stop myself I snapped, "I only use the damn stuff because the pain that shoots up my damn leg when I'm _not _using it is so horribly unbearable that I almost can't walk!"

Her eyes bore into mine, a sad sort of look in them. "I bet you that if you stopped taking it that it has stopped," she whispered. "Please. I'm worried."

I scoffed lightly. "There's nothing to worry about."

"Those narcotics could be doing who-knows-what to the rest of your body!" she exclaimed, "It might stop the pain but that doesn't mean that it helps anything in the long run! Kyoya! Please! Just stop!"

I sighed loudly in frustration and set the clipboard that I had yet to write anything on back on it's hook before facing her full on. "I can't," I growled, "I can't because then I'll go through the pain _plus _whatever withdrawals that come with stopping."

She stared me even harder. "Let me help then." I shook my head and picked the clipboard back up. "Please, Kyoya. I'm your wife. And I care about you. So please, just let me help."

I paused, staring at my wife of 5 months who had somehow, miraculously, not found out about my incredible narcotic abuse before now, though I had never seen it as abuse. Then I sighed softly. "Fine. You're the one I'm going to blame when I'm screaming in agony though," I grunted bitterly.

Her eyes were soft. "I don't want you to hurt," she said quietly, pausing, "I don't want you to hurt. Which is why, I can be a replacement for those stupid narcotics."

I had to stop myself from doing a double-take as I stood there, scribbling stability notes down. I shrugged inwardly. She'd offered. "You'd be my narcotics?" I asked skeptically.

Haruhi nodded gently, staring at me like only a wife could. "Yes. I would."

"Alright," I murmured, "We can try that."

I was probably going to regret this later.

– _4 months later_ –

"How is it today?" Haruhi asked softly as I came back into our bedroom after taking a shower. She asked me this question every morning after I'd been moving around for awhile. Every morning with the same loving look in her eye.

I sighed. "There's barely anything there," I muttered reluctantly, shaking my left leg a bit.

Her face broke out in a tremendous smile as I strode over to where she was lying. "I told you."

"Shut up," I growled, leaning over the bed so I could tower above her. "I'm going work." She smiled as I bent down enough to give her a quick peck on the lips in farewell.

"Dinner with the Host Club's tonight!" she called after me as I headed for the door. I groaned inwardly and waved my hand in acknowledgment.

If we got into another accident on the way there. I'd be seriously pissed.

–

**A/N: I've finally done it! Hurray! Took me awhile to get a prompt in my head that I wouldn't write in a depressing manner. This is slightly serious, but it's still fluffy. Therefore, it's perfect! And it's a break from the dark depressing ones that I've been writing recently. **

**Huge, huge, HUGE list of Kudos. I just about cried when I counted all of them from M. **_**14**_**. **_**FOURTEEN. **_**I think we've broken a new record! Now to list them all. SDM, Scherherazade, BlackestNight BrightestDay, LostInASeaOfGarnetAndAmethyst, Kuramasredredrose, Koharu Veddette, kyouyaootooriandharuhiforever, SarahNThatcher, Moonstarr394, lostinlife88, Irene Gerke, bloodyhell95, Yuuki-Kuran of the Knight, and Hope-Hazard! **

**If I had a list that big for every chapter of everything that I ever wrote I'd be a load of joyous tears every single day for the rest of my life! I DEMAND repeats of this! I DEMAND them dammit! **


	15. O: Open for Business

_The Alphabet Notebook_

_By Meganes Ultimate Fangirl _

_O – Open for Business _

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I just couldn't believe it.

"Kyoya?" Haruhi asked, slight worry laced in her voice as she waved her hand in front of my face. I was staring at her with his mouth slightly agape in complete shock.

I shook my head quickly and answered, "Run that by me again, Haruhi. I don't think I heard you correctly."

A soft laugh left her lips. "I left my firm and I'm starting my own with a friend from law school," she repeated, slower than she had before.

I could already feel my head clouding with doubt. This had to be a joke. She loved her job at the firm. There was no way that she'd leave it to create her own. And yet she was standing here in front of me, saying just that. Did it make sense to me? No. Not at all. "Why...?" I asked cautiously.

"Because," she stated, "The new head was driving me crazy. And he's a load of crap. So I quit and I'm working on starting my own firm. I have enough loyal patrons to keep it going just by myself. Along with Kyoko's, we should be able to do pretty good with it."

I let a small laugh escape from my lips. "Haruhi," I snorted, "You were part of a top rate law firm, and you _quit_?"

"Yes," she muttered, blinking and frowning. "It's not like we're struggling for money or anything. You're the chair of Ohtori Medical. I don't think we'll _ever _struggle with money. What's the problem?"

Laughing with disbelief I said. "You _quit _a top law firm. And you started your own. How are you expecting to save your _credibility_?" I ran a hand through my hair, shaking my head. She obviously hadn't thought about the possibility that she could lose all credibility to her name by leaving.

She blinked several times before opening her mouth, "I don't need to. Just because I left my firm doesn't make me any less of a great lawyer." She shrugged her shoulders, smiling at me gently as she wrapped her arms around my neck. "You'll support me right?"

I sighed, "Of course, I'll support you. Though I'm doubtful that this will work."

Haruhi scoffed and smacked me on the chest with the back of her hand lightly. "Kyoya!"

"Haruhi," I retaliated, "Top rate law firms take forever to build up. You were at the top and now you're at the bottom of the food chain. You'll have to struggle just to stay open."

She shook her head, smiling softly as she stood on her tiptoes with her lips a few scarce inches from mine. "You'll see."

I snorted. "Yeah. Sure."

–

Haruhi's firm opened 4 months later, though I was still doubtful of it's success. I'd discreetly helped her along the way even if I was pretty sure that this was only a stage she was going through. But I had to act like the supportive husband at the opening party. Besides, if it kept her happy, I'd do practically anything.

I walked up to her slowly, eying her as she talked to one of her clients. "Well, Ohtori-san. I'll be sure to be a client of your firm in the future."

"Thank you, Korino-san," she replied with a diplomatic smile. I had to marvel at her ability to do this so easily. All her time with the Host Club must have only helped that along surely. And I'd seen her in court several times. It was a thing that could almost be described by beautiful.

I gazed at her silently as she turned to me. "Well, Kyoya? Are you convinced yet?" I smiled and shook my head. "You will be by the time I'm 25."

I shook my head and swooped down to give her a quick peck on the lips. Her 25th birthday was in 6 months. I doubted that she'd be able to show that her firm was a success in such a short amount of time. Though judging by the amount of people that were at that party, she might just prove me wrong after all.

–

"Do you believe me now?" she asked a mere five months later when I was visiting her at work. She sat in her office chair regarding me quietly as I silently looked around the firm she had created. It was actually quite impressive. Running effectively, almost a perfect case record, a team of 5 other lawyers in addition to Haruhi herself, and slowly gaining influence even among people of my own class.

I sighed softly to myself and begrudgingly said, "I suppose." She smirked smugly and turned her eyes back to her work in front of her.

What she didn't know was that I'd had faith in her the entire time. I'd just kept it to myself to motivate her even more.

"Haruhi."

"Hmm?" She glanced up again from her papers as I walked over to stand by her.

"I'm proud of you," I mumbled, pressing a kiss to her temple and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. She smiled and closed her eyes, leaning her head against me. "I say," I added softly, "That we go out to lunch to celebrate my wife's brilliant success." She nodded in reply, silently giving in to my whims.

The other thing she didn't know, was that her first case in her new firm had been one that had benefited my business. And that was a secret that I was going to take with me to the grave. Because I'd never admit to her that she had gotten my help in building up her firm. She'd not only be mad, but I would be slightly ashamed.

And Kyoya Ohtori should never feel ashamed of anything.

–

**A/N: Thank you, kyouyaootooriandharuhiforever for this idea. It worked rather nicely if I do say so myself. **

**Kudos to: lostinlife88, Scherherazade, BlackestNight BrightestDay, MayContainRandomness, SDM, MISCharacter, and Hope-Hazard. I just cried a whole ton of tears of joy again. Despite the fact that it wasn't as many as M. But I updated in less time this time too. So it's understandable. THANK YOU ALL! **


	16. P: Punctual Proposal

_The Alphabet Notebook_

_By Meganes Ultimate Fangirl _

_P – Punctual Proposal_

Haruhi is normally on time to everything. And when she's late she has a viable excuse for that tardiness. But this was preposterous. She was _an hour _late for our dinner date. Granted, I was patient. But even my patience stretches thin.

I sighed softly under by breath and pulled out my Blackberry. I wasn't worried about her. She knew how to take care of herself. Besides, if I started acting like Tamaki and immediately sent out a search party every time she was a few minutes late, I wouldn't be me. I dialed her number, having learned it by heart over 3 years ago and waited for her soft voice to answer.

Thus, when she didn't answer I became increasingly annoyed. Had I unknowingly done something to upset her?

I'd had everything planned out exactly for how this night was supposed to go. And it did _not _include the center spotlight to be late or absent. This wouldn't do.

I absently picked my phone back up from where I'd set it on the table and opened up the internet, mainly to check the stocks as I often did when I needed to contain my annoyance and frustration. But the news story that seemed to be plastered everywhere on my homepage caught my attention.

_Nanboku Subway Line Crashes! _

_A mere hour ago, a train on the subway line by the name of Nanboku malfunctioned and crashed minutes before entering Takebashi station. The train was estimated to be carrying roughly 150 passengers, only a small portion of which are reported to have escaped this tragedy unscathed. 53 have been pronounced dead. As of this moment there are approximately 35 in critical condition and another 40 with mild injuries. _

_Emergency teams were immediately on the scene after a distress signal was sent out from the train's conductor... _

I stopped reading and started at the top again. The words _"53 dead" _and _"35 in critical condition" _jumped out at me. That was the exact line that Haruhi would have taken from her office to meet me here. And her stop was Takebashi station. It was only a few blocks from the restaurant that I now sat in.

_'An hour ago,'_ the article said. That would definitely explain her lack of punctuality. Despite my better judgment, panic and worry started to well in my chest and my heart seized for a moment.

_Haruhi _had probably been on that train. _Haruhi _might be injured. _Haruhi _might be _dead_. It was such an unbearable, unfathomable thought that I almost lost it right there. I didn't waste anymore time. I stood abruptly, grabbed my coat off the back of my chair, and fled. I flagged down a taxi, too impatient to wait for one of my own cars. I _had _to see her. I _had _to know she was fine. That she was _going _to be fine.

–

The hospital was packed when I arrived. With waiting worried family members and friends of those that had been part of the crash. It was an Ohtori hospital, thankfully. So I walked up to the receptionist and gave her a look that said not to mess with me. "Haruhi Fujioka. Was she admitted?"

The woman behind the desk looked up. "You'll have to get in line, sir."

"Was she admitted?" I repeatedly forcefully, almost angrily. She just stared at me and tried to repeat her previous statement. I cut her off, "My family owns this hospital. Do you _want _to lose your job? Haruhi Fujioka."

This time she squeaked, mumbling a simple, "Yessir," under her breath, and started typing a mile a minute. Had I not been so intent on finding out Haruhi's well-being I would have smirked smugly at my own accomplishment of intimidating the damn woman. "She was," the woman stated slowly, looking up at me as if I'd eat her for giving her this news.

"Where?" I demanded immediately. Please, Kira, don't let her be harmed.

"ICU," she mumbled.

My heart almost stopped, my worry growing quickly into hysteria. _Haruhi _was in ICU. With God only knew what ailment. "Does it say what he diagnosis was?" I asked lamely, feeling my head drop to my hand.

"No, sir. Sorry." She really did look apologetic. Sympathetic almost. Like she was silently comforting one of the people that was crying here because they knew someone who was dying in the hospital. But I _wasn't _one of them. Because Haruhi couldn't be dying.

I sighed and swallowed down my panic. "What room?"

"257A."

"Thank you," I muttered, giving her a curt nod before taking off in the direction of the ICU wing. I had to force myself not to run, though the urge was almost irresistible. When I finally stopped in front of 257A, I swallowed slowly and prepared myself for the worst.

As slow as a tortoise I opened the door and gazed into the room. "Haruhi," I breathed as I took in the sight in front of me. She appeared to be asleep, an IV in her arm and breathing tubes hooked to her nose. She had scrapes and scratches on her face and a particularly big gash on her forehead that made me worry about concussion. The steady beeping of the machine behind her constituted that she was alive.

I let out a breath I hadn't known I'd been holding as she responded to her name. "Kyoya," she rasped softly, smiling. Relief flooded through me as I strode forward and embraced her the best I could without threatening the various things hooked to her. She gasped lightly in slight pain, causing me to pull away quickly.

She watched as I pulled up a chair next to her, swiping the clipboard off the end of her bed in the process. I scanned over it quickly, flinching inwardly as I read: _"Shattered right fibula"_,_ "cracked rib"_, and _"possible internal bleeding." _

I set the clipboard down slowly, turning my gaze to her. "Have they told you exactly what's wrong with you?" I asked gently, taking her hand and bringing it to my lips.

She shook her head slowly and carefully, "I just woke up," she mumbled, voice becoming hoarse from what I could only discern was the pain she was probably going through.

I swallowed and shifted my gaze to where her right leg was hidden under the covers. "Shattered right fibula." My eyes traveled up to her torso. "Cracked rib." And finally they met her eyes as she stared at me. "And possibly internal bleeding. Along with minor bumps and bruises."

She smiled at me, for reason I couldn't understand. She was in the hospital, in bucket-loads of pain, and she could still smile at _me_. "Were you worried?" she croaked.

I nodded carefully, coming to the conclusion that it was probably better that I tell her the truth instead of feign indifference. After all, I did actually care about the woman lying in front of me quite a bit. "More than you know," I murmured, leaning forward to press my lips to her forehead.

"How'd you know?"

I brought a hand to her face, cupping her cheek in my palm while my thumb pointed its way to her temple and my fingers spread out behind her ear. "You're always punctual, Haruhi," I whispered, the thought that I'd almost lost her constricting my voice slightly. "And when you didn't answer your cellphone after I'd been waiting _an hour _I caught sight of the news report. Needless to say, I rushed here."

"I see," she breathed, leaning into my hand.

I sighed. She looked so content. And she was alive. I could breath again because Haruhi was alive. I shifted so that I was sitting on the bed beside her instead of the uncomfortable hospital chair, holding her hand in my lap. Her gaze was warm and tired as she stared at me. "You'll need surgery," I muttered, pushing a lock of chocolate brown hair behind her ear. She nodded, gripping my hand a little tired. "I'll be there with you."

That gentle smile found its way onto her features again with my words. "Good," she rumbled as a small black box rolled out of my pocket and into her lap. I stared at it, my gaze shifting to her after a second. I was really hoping that she hadn't noticed it. She was looking at it with a cute little frown on her face. "What's that, Kyoya?" she mumbled.

I let a small laugh escape my lips. "The thing that I planned this entire night for," I replied softly, removing my hands from where they rested on the side of her face and clasped in hers. I opened it delicately and turned it to her. "I was thinking about this going differently," I added in a low mutter, "But hey, good a time as any."

She stared at the diamond-crusted silver band that was wedged carefully in the box. It was simply designed, just like she was. Small little diamonds carefully placed in a criss-crossing pattern from the point of origin, a single larger diamond. I'd had it specially made, having got her ring size by tricking her into trying on a few of my mother's old rings that seemed to fit.

"Haruhi," I said quietly, voice as gentle as I could possibly manage. Her bewildered gaze turned to my face. She had to know what was coming next. "Will you marry me?"

The woman in question seemed to have choked up on her emotions, her very words. She didn't have to reply. But she did anyway, after a moment of complete silence. "Yes," she whispered, smiling at me happily. I smiled back the most genuine smile I've ever beamed in my life and tugged the delicate piece of artwork out of the box, sliding it onto her left ring finger. Her eyes stayed on my face the entire time. "I love you," she breathed.

I nodded. "If you didn't then you wouldn't have said yes," I responded softly, leaning forward to place a gentle kiss on her lips.

Yes, it definitely wasn't the proposal I had planned. But it was just as great. And a glance at my watch proved that it was also right on time.

–

**A/N: I actually wrote a Pride and Prejudice one for this before I actually wrote this one. But I like this one better. So I'm using it. Depending on whether people demand it or not, I may or may not post the Pride and Prejudice one up as a separate one-shot. **

**You can blame procrastination for such a quick update. It seems that I'd rather write fanfiction than make sure my grades are secure for the rest of the year. **

**Kudos to: Scherherazade, kyouyaootooriandharuhiforever, Spider9x, BlackestNight BrightestDay, Hope-Hazard, and lostinlife88 for reviewing. The punctuality idea is courtesy of lostinlife88. Thanks for that! **


	17. Q: Quirky Quietness

_The Alphabet Notebook_

_By Meganes Ultimate Fangirl _

_Q – Quirky Quietness_

Haruhi is definitely an interesting subject to study, despite my attempts to convince myself otherwise. Normally, I wouldn't be bothered at all by a commoner – not that I'm saying I am, she just happens to be a very... _quirky _commoner.

I quietly observed her from the shadows. All through Host Club and all through that third year of my high school year. And yet I still couldn't quite figure it out. I couldn't figure _her _out. She didn't seem to have any blatantly obvious weaknesses other than food and a fear of thunder. But even then she seemed to have the kind of strength to ignore the food and huddle by herself when thunder presented itself.

She had an 'I-really-don't-care-what-you-think-about-me' air about her all the time. She dressed as a male or a female, whichever seemed convenient and comfortable at the time. And she didn't give a crap either way whether you thought she was a disgrace to the human race or a perfect angel from heaven.

She was blunt and always spoke her mind, questionable thoughts or not. If you expected something other than the truth, you never asked Haruhi what she thought about it.

She was slightly naïve yet remarkably perceptive at the same time. With the academic intelligence to succeed where she needed to in like, but an uncanny disregard to the affect she had on others and their feelings toward her – not that she meant to do that.

She was unique like no one else could be, to say the least.

But what made her so incredibly unique was the way that she had a certain gift for seeing all of us as more than what he reflected to the world. We weren't just a bunch of aloof, rich guys with a powerful family name to her. No, she saw us as people, peers even, despite her status as a commoner.

There was no other way to describe it than with a single word.

Quirky.

Haruhi was quirky.

And that quirkiness is what made her interesting to study and observe. Because if any of us would even be able to begin to realize what kind of a person she was, a new world of possibilities would open up to us.

"Kyoya-sempai?"

My eyes trailed to where she was standing in front of me, recovering quickly from being surprised out of my thoughts and placing my mask back in place. "Yes, Haruhi?" I replied smoothly.

"Why are you always so quiet?"

I stared at her for a moment. Where the hell did her questions come from anyway? Where the hell did any of her notions come from? I carefully calculated my response in my head. "Because, there is no reason for me to speak unless Tamaki gets too obscenely rambunctious," I muttered bluntly.

She just smiled. "In other words, there's no merits to speaking out all the time like Tamaki-sempai?"

I gazed at her, murmuring a quick, "Correct," before turning back to the work at hand. She stayed there though, standing in front of me with those ever-curious eyes shining like the sun. "Is there something else you wanted Haruhi?"

"You really don't like socializing unless it's absolutely necessary or it brings merit, do you Sempai?"

I rose a single dark eyebrow at her question. Really, where did she come up with these? "Are you assuming that I'm anti-social?"

She blinked a few times before shaking her head quickly, a slight sense of fear darting in and out of her eyes. Most likely, she was scared that she'd offended me in some way and that I was going to add to her mountainous debt because of it. But I wasn't _that _shallow. "N-No, Kyoya-sempai! I was just wondering..." she trailed off and glanced over at the table that she'd abandoned in between client shifts.

"I do try to avoid it when it's tedious and unnecessary," I answered her question coolly after a moment of silence. "Frankly, I see no point in socializing there's nothing to learn." The only reason I was still having this conversation was because I was still working on dissecting the inner workings of her brain.

Not to sound _too _creepy.

"Then why do you still socialize with everyone here?" She looked at me expectantly.

I realized, that she was probably trying to do the same thing I was. She was trying to dissect _me_. She was trying to figure out what went on in _my _brain. I used a default answer that I'd had in my brain since the moment I'd set foot in school. "Because, Haruhi, everyone here is from a family that could be beneficial to know in the future." Even she in a way could be useful for the future if she was nearly as successful of a lawyer as she was transpiring to be.

She eyed me almost suspiciously for a moment. Then mumbled, "Why are you quiet now then? When there's customers to make acquaintances with?" I blinked behind my glasses and tilted my head forward a bit so that there was a glare on my glasses. "You specifically choose those that you want to talk to don't you?"

For once, I didn't want to hide behind my vast collection of default answers and witty remarks. Instead I answered with a truthful, "Yes," as I marveled once more at this commoners uncanny ability to see through everything that our world tried to project to each other.

She frowned and opened her mouth but I interrupted before another ridiculous curiously-pointed question could leave her lips. "Haruhi," I stated, motioning toward her table where a few guests were starting to crowd. "You have customers to get back to."

"Ah," she muttered distractedly, nodding to herself. "Alright, Sempai." She proceeded to scuttle back to her giggling group of girls while I sat there shaking my head with a smirk on my face that was borderline to being a smile.

Haruhi Fujioka was definitely quirky.

But that quirkiness was what made her interesting.

–

**A/N: Had quirky on my list of prompts and then Hope-Hazard supplied the quiet part. (At least I _think _it was her. Correct me if I'm wrong.) I realize that this one's a bit more rambly than previous ones. I blame... Uhh... A lack of concentration. Yeah. That's it. **

**Does anyone else notice how quiet Kyoya normally is? Like... he only really ever talks if there's some explanation to be had or to reprimand Tamaki for his idiocy. Honestly! **

**I honestly _tried _to work on my English paper. But as soon as I started writing I realized that I was writing _FANFICTION _instead of my _PAPER _subconsciously. Hell. Why can't it just be summer already? **

**Kudos to Hope-Hazard, LivingGlow, lostinlife88, SarahNThatcher (whom I did one from their high school days upon her request!), KandHforvever, Scherherazade, BlackestNight BrightestDay, and MayContainRandomness. **

**Now... I'm going to BEG every divine source of good in this world that I actually WRITE my paper this time instead of spurting out some other random one-shot of strange proportions. **


	18. R: Release

_The Alphabet Notebook _

_By Meganes Ultimate Fangirl _

_R – Release_

I stared at my calculations of Haruhi's debt on my ledger. There was something wrong. Horribly, horribly wrong. She couldn't have only 25,000 yen left could she? She hadn't had _that _many customers had she? And we were still 8 months from mine and Tamaki's graduation. If Haruhi left before we did then the Host Club would suffer tremendously. Not to mention it would probably diminish completely once we _did _graduate.

I couldn't let that happen. It didn't matter if she was the second source of relief that I'd found in people. Tamaki was one. But she had been completely unexpected. And she'd released the walls around myself just a little bit more.

I couldn't let her leave.

Thus, I recalculated. But it still came out to the same exact thing. _25,000 yen_. Dammit. Now I needed to find an excuse to add more to her debt. At the rate she was going she could clear that in a month.

"Haruhi," I called to her from across the room. I expected to startle her into dropping/breaking something else but she turned around calmly with the tray she was carrying still in her hands. I motioned her over silently.

"Yes, Sempai?" she asked quietly, setting down her tray on my table behind the computer. I picked up my ledger, gazing at her through my glasses. Then pointed at the total at the bottom, turning it to show her.

"That is all that remains of your debt," I stated calmly. Her eyes widened then moved up to meet mine. "You can easily clear it in a month and then you'll be free to concentrate on your studies. If you wish to leave that is." I added.

She looked at me. "This isn't some sort of joke is it?"

"Do I look like I'm joking Haruhi?" She shook her head.

I knew that the moment I'd seen her surprised look that I wouldn't have been able to add more to her debt even if my life depended on it. Yes, there was more merit to having her here than for her to leave but I couldn't bring myself to add on to her labor.

Instead, I surprised myself by staring her straight in the eye and saying. "You're free. I'm waving the last of it."

She was silent for the longest time, just staring at me. "You're... releasing me from my debt?" I nodded. "Why? Isn't there more merit in holding me?"

I let a small chuckle fall from my lips. "If you knew how much you've already done, you'd understand why." She gave me this funny look with a single tilt of her head, smiling.

"Thank you, Kyoya," she murmured, dropping the honorific for the first time. I looked up at her from where my eyes had trailed back down to my ledger. "I'm not leaving though. You guys are my friends. I can't just leave you behind."

"Well," I muttered, "As long as you don't break anything else in the next 8 months you don't have to worry about debts any longer." She smiled in thanks and turned back to her customers, hauling the tea tray with her.

And that one smile was all I needed to know that I'd returned the favor she had given me when she'd released me from my facade.

–

**A/N: A bit shorter than the last... 5 or so, eh? Thank you to lostinlife88 for this idea. I actually had this running through my mind since she first mentioned it I just didn't get it down until now. (Ehehe?) Now I'm going to sit here and stay up until I finish LD and get it out before I go on vacation to Long Beach. Where there probably won't be internet... Even if I'm taking my computer. **

**I still get email on my phone. So I'll still see everyone's lovely reviews! (Though I can't reply to any of them from my phone.) **

**Kudos to: Hope-Hazard, lostinlife88, BlackestNight BrightestDay, Scherherazade, SarahNThatcher, MayContainRandomness, KandHforever, Kuramasredredrose, LostInASeaOfGarnetAndAmethyst, and Jaden Harmonia! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU. **

**Also, chances are... That I'll be going through the alphabet again once I get to Z. Since... I already have ideas going through my head for the first few letters again. Oi... I'll be writing all summer. And today was my last day of school... So... I'M FREE. **


	19. S: Silly String

_The Alphabet Notebook_

_By Meganes Ultimate Fangirl _

_S – Silly String_

It was sticky, it smelled like sharpies that had been left with their caps off, and it was _all over _me.

Silly string.

Where the hell had these idiots gotten _silly string_? I was pretty sure that I'd kill whoever it was that invented the stuff. And then sue the person who _gave _the stuff to the idiots I called my friends for everything they owned.

Tamaki and the twins were backing away slowly as I glared at them murderously. Haruhi, who was also a victim just sighed and scuttled over to sit behind me, dragging strings of the stuff out of her hair.

"Who's idea was it?" I demanded in a low growl, "Who did it?"

Tamaki, being his overly dramatic self, flung himself at me as he begged for mercy and blamed everything on the twins. "Oh mother! It's horrible! They forced me into it!"

The twins protested loudly, kicking the blonde out of the way. "Milord! You traitor! Trying to blame it all on us!"

"But it _was _those unscrupulous twins! It was them! They were trying to tie up my darling daughter!"

My face was blank as I looked over the three. They all looked guilty, but none of them seemed to be the culprits. Besides, none of _them _had the guts to spray _me_, the _Shadow King_, with silly string. No, it had to be someone else. I looked toward Hunny-sempai and Mori-sempai. Hunny was giggling as he covered Mori with the foam-like string. They were caught in their own little world. Couldn't be them.

"Who. Sprayed. Me?"

They were silent, looking like they wanted to run straight out the door and never look back.

Then a small giggle broke out behind me. I spun around and glared at the brunette girl. Her smile was wide as she looked up at me innocently. "You," I whispered furiously.

"Sempai," she laughed, "I just thought you looked too serious over here. You need some fun!"

I glared at her. And here I'd thought she was just another unwilling victim in this entire plot. Turned out she was the culprit all along. "You," I whispered, feeling the temperature of the room lower several degrees. Tamaki and the twins shivered and ran for the door screaming like morons while the two seniors looked over. "Haruhi, 5,000 yen."

Her face fell. "What?" she exclaimed, "That's..."

She was silenced as I sprayed her in the face. Her mouth fell open as she stared at me, strands of the string falling from her hair and her nose. "Did you just...?"

"Why yes, Haruhi. I did," I stated with a smirk as I tossed the can of silly string up in the air and caught it again. "5,000 yen and that." A pout came across her lips. "Now what have you learned?"

She still pouted as she looked up with wide chocolate-brown eyes. "Never mess with the Shadow King," she mumbled, hanging her head, "Especially with silly string... Even if he needs to have more fun in his life."

"Good."

I returned to my seat behind my computer and pulled up the file that contained Haruhi's debt count. Secretly, and without her knowledge, I changed it. Only instead of increasing it 5,000, I subtracted it.

After all. She had given me an excuse to do something that wasn't work when I needed a break badly.

–

**A/N: Told you I'd have it sooooooon. I had this idea in my head for a long time. Just was too lazy to write it down. Prompt thanks to: Hope-Hazard. Got quite a few other good ones though. Quite short too... But how far can someone stretch this kind of thing? **

**Sorry for the long wait. I'll hopefully get a new chapter of SOMETHING out before I go to camp on Monday. (Probably OTHD or LD though.) Think I'm going to rewrite chapter 11 of OTHD though. Just... don't like it much. Which means I'll need to adjust 12 just a bit. **

**Anyways... **

**Kudos to: Kuramasredredrose, Scherherazade, Hope-Hazard, Enigmaticrose4, BlackestNight BrightestDay, Jaden Harmonia, SarahNThatcher, LostInASeaOfGarnetandAmethyst, MayContainRandomness, and ..X. I LOVE YOU GUYSSSSSS. **


	20. T: Thundering Tents

_The Alphabet Notebook_

_By Meganes Ultimate Fangirl _

_T – Thundering Tents_

I hated tents. No, I hated camping in general. How the hell, or why for that matter, had Tamaki convinced me to allow the Host Club to go on a camping trip? He claimed that it was because we needed to "experience a commoner's vacation." Bullshit. He just wanted another excuse to make my life miserable.

And those idiots had been completely insufferable since the moment we had arrived. I had yet to get anything done that needed to be.

Thus, I was sitting outside the tents under a canopy while the others slept. Haruhi in her own tiny one, the others in a big one. My laptop was balanced on my knees, connected to a self-sustaining generator. I rubbed my temples and reached for my coffee.

This entire trip was probably taking a bigger chunk out of the Host Club budget than Tamaki's last cosplay idea.

And it was raining, the very beginnings of a storm. Wonderful.

I sighed as the first bout of thunder shook the sky and a quick flash of lightening shot off in the distance seconds later. When a rustling noise and a small whimper came from inside Haruhi's tent I frowned and set aside my laptop. I strode over to the tiny little one-person tent and shook the outside to signal that I was there. "Haruhi?" I called softly, trying not to wake the 5 boys in the tent next door. "Haruhi, are you alright?"

"Yes, Kyoya-sempai," she squeaked from inside. I was skeptical but turned back to walk over to my computer. As I did, another boom and a flash forced another whimper from what I assumed was probably Haruhi's mouth.

Right. She was scared of thunder. Brontophobia.

She was making enough noise to wake up the boys so I went back over and coaxed the tent zipper open and slid inside, shutting it behind me. "Ky-Kyoya-sempai?"

I pulled her towards me. "Shh. It's just thunder Haruhi," I murmured into her hair. When the next blast of thunder came, she clung to my shirt. I held her tighter. "It's just noise. Not going to hurt you."

"Why're you doing this?" she mumbled into my chest. "There's no merit to comforting me when you could be working."

I _almost _chuckled. "That's where you're wrong, Haruhi. This way, you'll be quieter and won't wake up the others. Kami knows we don't need them being loud and rambunctious enough to wake up the whole campground," I replied quietly, shifting slightly so that I was in a more comfortable position.

She was silent in response, seemingly taking the excuse I had given her. Minutes later I discovered she had fallen asleep.

And she wouldn't let go of me.

I sighed tiredly. My laptop was safe under the canopy outside and I knew for a fact that at least one of my bodyguards was watching the campground like a hawk. With a bit of difficulty, I laid down with Haruhi and pulled the extra blankets over us.

Out like a light in five seconds.

–

The next morning, Tamaki woke up to find a surprising thing. Kyoya was not in his sleeping bag. His panic grew till he woke up everyone in the tent, dressed and rushed outside. "Mother's been kidnapped! We must find him!" he cried dramatically.

Then he went to go wake Haruhi. "HARUHIIIIIIII!" he yelled as he burst his head into the little tent.

He blinked a few times as he took in the sight in front of him.

Kyoya and Haruhi. In the tent. Cuddled together. Alone. All night.

"MOTHER! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HARUHI? INCEEEEEEST!"

The raven-haired boy growled under his breath and picked up one of the pillows he and Haruhi's heads were resting on and threw it at him. "There was a storm last night, idiot," he grunted, then pushed his nose into the girl's hair and went back to sleep. Haruhi snuggled closer to his warmth while Tamaki continued in his loud antics.

There was no escaping it, but they just pretended Tamaki's noise was the thunder that they'd been ignoring the night before.

For the two of them, sleep had never come so easily.

–

**A/N: I love tent camping. I go at least once a year. Memorial Day weekend I slept in a tiny little tent like Haruhi's with my best friend and my sister in my Aunt's backyard while Mom stole a couch inside. And let me tell you... extra body heat makes it _WARM _and _COZY_. Now can you tell how the two of them can sleep so easily? **

**Short and sweet~ And updated surprisingly quick. Had plenty of nice suggestions but I'd had this on in my head since I started on like... L. All those suggestions are on my list though. So maybe I'll use one or two of them the second time around. **

**Kudos to: MayContainRandomness, ..X, SarahNThatcher, Kuramasredredrose, and Souzousei. **

**LD and OTHD on the way~ Hopefully before camp. But only one chapter of each at the most, unfortunately for you. Then you'll have to wait a week till I get home. **


	21. U: Use a Wish

_The Alphabet Notebook_

_By Meganes Ultimate Fangirl_

_U – Use a Wish_

When I was 7 I saw a shooting star. At the point in time my parents were fighting and my mother was getting sicker by the day. It was because of this very trouble between my father and mother that I decided – against all logic that I'd ever known or been taught in my seven years of life – to make a wish that seemed impossible at the time.

I wished to be happy.

That was it. I didn't specify or wish for my parents to stop fighting – since I knew that wasn't like – or to inherit Ohtori Medical Group. I just wished to be happy. Because I knew it would happen. The star wish wouldn't make it happen. _I _would.

3 years later, my mother died. Starved herself to death. No matter how much Father or Fuyumi pleaded with her to just keep going.

I started to hate my father. It was his fault that Mother was doing this to herself. She couldn't find another way to escape him.

The night she died I managed to sneak in to see her for the first time in weeks.

The very sighed of seeing her scrawnier-than-bone body almost made me puke. Because she was doing this to herself. She was _choosing _this way to die. "Kyoya," she mumbled weakly, stroking my hair, "Never... Let... Your father... Control you."

I nodded and ran off quickly after she pressed her frail lips to by forehead. She died that very night.

The next three years were rather miserable. And I started to doubt that I would ever find my happiness again. I didn't believe that that little star would do anything at all. It was a star. It was a ball of gas countless miles away. And the myth surrounding the wish-on-a-shooting-star-and-it-comes-true theory was nothing but _a myth_.

Then Tamaki came along. He started turning it around for me. Everything for just a little better.

2 years later, Haruhi added to that in her own ways. I was content to just watch her and see what she did.

One day, the Host Club went to the beach and stayed there half the night. Haruhi and I were sitting around on beach towels, looking at the sky while the others were playing some sort of night volleyball game.

Haruhi and I saw a shooting star. She gasped and shook my arm. "Sempai! Did you see that?" I smiled at her child-like behavior. And nodded. "Did you make a wish, Sempai?"

I faulted. I hadn't made one this time. I knew better. But I replied, "Yes Haruhi," anyway. "I made a wish a long time ago. Took awhile... But it came true."

She frowned. "What did you wish for?"

"To be happy."

The look on her face as she looked at me could have brightened up my day no matter how badly it was going.

Years later, when we were married, I asked her was she wished for.

She answered: "Happiness. And I've got it right here." Then she kissed me, a small smile on her lips.

–

**A/N: I debated whether to use this for W as wish instead. Which is why it took me a bit after I got home from camp to type it up and post it. Decided to use it here since I already have W written out. -COUGH- **

**Anyways... Kudos to: BabyJaguar, RandomBucket, LadyGraceC, Enigmaticrose4, Nanachi-chan desu, Xaldin's Girlfriend, xheloisex, X. tears. of. silver. X, and MayContainRandomness. **

**Can anyone guess where this prompt came from? "Can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars? I could really _use a wish _right now, wish right now, wish right now." Yeah... I was listening to this song at camp... And it just popped into my head. **


	22. V: Violin

_The Alphabet Notebook_

_By E.M. Megs (Meganes Ultimate Fangirl)_

_V – Violin_

Everyone has emotions. Even me, though I choose to keep mine locked up tight. But everyone also has an emotional outlet. A way to express themselves. Tamaki hasn't a need for one since he wears his emotions on his sleeves all the time anyway. His theatrics are his outlet.

Personally, mine involves a violin and a quiet secluded room.

I don't need music, I just play. As I have since I was 6.

Father's pressure combined with Tamaki's antics and the damn Host Club budget often make me need to blow all the pent up frustration out of my being.

But this time, it wasn't just frustration that gave me the overwhelming urge to just leave the Music Room during Host Club and find a quiet room where I could take out everything on the strings of a violin. No. Much more seemed to be pressing in on me today, trying to make me crack.

Lack of sleep, numbers not quite matching up, Tamaki and the twins making nuisances of themselves, Father requiring more of my work to run Ohtori Medical Group, and Haruhi. Yes, Haruhi.

For once my fingers were still over the keys of my laptop, my eyes just staring blankly at the screen while the loud noises from around me just added to my annoyance.

God, I had to get out of there.

I stood and strode to the door. "Mother!" Tamaki exclaimed from where he was entertaining several girls. "Where on earth could you be going? Should I come too?"

He seemed to notice the strained look on my face while a vein in my temple threatened to pop. "I didn't believe it was required of me to tell you every single place that I go to every minute of every day, Tamaki. And please refrain from following me. I don't need an escort to go to the men's room," I lied while struggling to keep my jaw from clenching. I turned on my heel and left while he was trying to think up a comeback.

Idiot.

I went straight to Music Room 2 where I knew there was a violin in a storage closet.

–

Haruhi was walking back toward the club room from an errand that Kyoya had sent her on when she heard music coming from a hall to her left. Curious, she followed the noise until she came to the 2nd Music room of the school.

_'Perhaps it's one of the orchestra members getting in some extra practice before rehearsal...?' _she thought to herself absently.

It was beautiful music. Sounded like a violin, maybe a viola though. She couldn't really tell the difference between the two. She pushed open the door carefully, making sure not to make a lot of noise that would distract or disturb whoever it was.

No one was in immediate sight when she entered so she ventured further in. The music took a sudden turn going from medium depth and jumbled to heavy and sharp. Like it was suddenly very angry at her for daring to come in.

She froze and stifled a gasp quickly when she caught sight of a familiar head of raven hair. Remaining still, she just watched him play as he beat on the strings of the instrument in his hands skillfully with a bow, his eyes closed and his brows furrowed. No music was in sight and she didn't recognize the piece so she assumed that he was playing something of his own creation.

She'd never seen him like this. Showing so much emotion at once. Suddenly, she felt like she'd walked in on something very private.

–

When I finally stopped, emotions having been expelled from my system for the time being, I set the delicate instrument back in it's case and turned.

Only to find Haruhi standing there staring at me with a gentle smile on her face. I cleared my face and set my mask back into place quickly, wondering exactly how long she'd been standing there watching me.

"Ah, Haruhi," I stated briskly, "I assume you've taken care of the task I assigned to you previously?"

She nodded but when she spoke it wasn't about her errand. "I didn't know you played the violin."

I swallowed dryly and murmured, "Yes. Well, few do. Unlike Tamaki I prefer not to have an audience." I pushed my glasses up my nose out of habit.

"You're quite good," she mumbled in daze, like she was listening to it again. "Amazing even." She shook her head, pulling herself back to reality once more.

"Thank you," I received the compliment graciously. "We should be heading back. I told Tamaki I was going to use the men's room. Surely he'll send out a search party for us soon if we don't return in a due amount of time."

She nodded, still smiling and allowed me to lead the way back to the Host Club where Tamaki was probably freaking out about some ridiculous fantasy that he'd gotten into his head about Haruhi and I being kidnapped by pirates.

I stopped outside the doors and turned to her suddenly, surprising her quite a bit. "Sempai...?"

I cleared my throat softly and stared her in the eye. "I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't speak of this to anyone. Not even that blonde idiot knows about my... playing and I'd prefer to keep it that way."

A startled look crossed her face right as I smirked and added in a low threatening undertone, "And of course, I can always warn you that if you _do _tell anyone your debt to the club will skyrocket to heights that you won't be able to pay off until you're at least 50. Am I understood?"

Her face paled considerably at the thought of being in debt to me until she was 50. "Vi-violin playing? What violin pl-playing?" she stuttered.

"Good," I replied, tossing her a pleasant smile as I clapped her on the shoulder and headed into the music room where I'd been right about Tamaki's overactive imagination being at work again.

I looked back at the brunette, noticing with a tad bit of satisfaction that she was still a bit pale as she hurried back to her table.

She'd never know that she was the biggest reason that I'd needed to use my outlet. That she had been what was causing my cool facade to crack.

And an Ohtori always needed to be able to keep up a cool front, right?

–

**A/N: Upon popular request, I give you the violin prompt! I don't remember who exactly mentioned it first, but it was also requested by several others. Thus, I came up with this! I think a violin actually fits Kyoya rather well. **

**I've found the cure for writer's block. A nice healthy amount of trance music calms the mind and just unstops the build-up in the writing part of my brain. So niiiiice. Though, I haven't tried it on LD or R51 yet. With luck I'll have them up at about the same time (Which'll probably be Friday or Saturday.) **

**Song I used to clear the block this time: I See Right Through You – DJ Encore. It did wooooonders. (And I currently have it on repeat so it can KEEP doing that.) **

**Kudos to: Enigmaticrose4, Hope-Hazard, SarahNThatcher, Fruitsbasketluver123, KandHforever, Scherherazade, X. tears. of. silver. X, and MayContainRandomness. Thank you guys for all your continued support! **


	23. W: With or Without You

_The Alphabet Notebook_

_By Meganes Ultimate Fangirl _

_W – With or Without You _

There was nothing but cold sheets next to me. Where Haruhi should have been sleeping there was absolutely nothing. I sighed and rolled over. It was amazing how hard it became to sleep when you were used to holding someone in your arms.

She was mad at me. She was mad and pregnant so she had decided to sleep in a guest room on the other side of the house.

I tried in vain for several excruciating minutes that felt more like hours to sleep. But it was simply too difficult to sleep knowing that my pregnant wife was god-spitting pissed at me. And maybe I was a bit guilty for getting her so mad in the first place.

Finally I couldn't stand to just lay there thinking about it. I tossed off my blankets restlessly and pulled myself out of bed. I didn't bother putting on my slippers, just stumbled out the door and across the house. I pushed open the guest bedroom door gently.

And there she was. Huddled on the bed, shoulders shaking slightly with unheard sobs. I sighed softly and strode toward the bed, sliding in between the sheets and wrapping my arms around her from behind. She stiffened at my touch but I just buried my nose in her hair and inhaled her familiar scent. "I can't sleep," I mumbled.

She scoffed slightly, bringing her hands up to wipe her tears. "Me neither," she replied hoarsely.

I squeezed her lightly, holding my eyes shut, and whispered, "I'm sorry, Haruhi." She let out a choking sob and finally turned herself around, clinging to my shirt. I pressed my lips to the top of her head and held her tightly. "I'm sorry," I repeated.

"Me too," she murmured then let out a shuddering breath. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

She sighed contentedly as I rested my head on top of hers. Soon enough she was asleep where she was supposed to be again. Shortly afterward I drifted off to dreamland myself.

–

I woke with a slight start but a pleasant smile on my face, reaching out to grab hold of Haruhi.

But all I found was empty, cold sheets.

I frowned until I remembered what had happened only weeks before. She was gone. Died in child birth and she had taken our son with her. Now all I could do was reach for her smiling face in the photograph on the bedside table and wish that she was here and that I wasn't without her.

–

I jerked awake, looking groggily for the brunette who slept next to me. She wasn't there. I frowned, thinking that maybe that dream was real. Something rustled across the room and I sat up. A soft shushing sound was coming from the same direction as the rustling. My eyes adjusted as I pulled myself out of bed.

Quiet sniffling, small whining. I headed toward the noises and ran into Haruhi, standing by a crib cooing at the little baby boy she had cradled in her arms. "Kyoya," she mumbled, looking exhausted, "Sorry, did Yoharu wake you?"

"Dream," I grunted in reply, still trying to blink away sleep. "Want me to take him?"

She sighed and shook his head a little. "I've got him. He's hungry again anyway," she murmured back, "What was your dream?" She walked back towards our bed and settled down to nurse our son. I slid in next to her and wrapped my arm around her waist so she could lean against me while Yoharu ate.

I kissed the top of her head. "I dreamed that I dreamed that you were pregnant and mad at me so you slept in the guest room. Then I woke up and you had died in child birth," I recited with a small snort, "It was a stupid illogical dream."

She smiled and pushed her head under my chin. "Like Tamaki?"

I chuckled softly and confirmed that thought. "I knew there was a reason I married you."

"I love you, too," she snorted before we lapsed into half-asleep silence till she moved to put Yoharu back in his crib so we could get a few more hours of sleep until his stomach woke him again.

With the reassurance that my son was asleep in his crib and my wife was in my arms, I drifted into a dreamless sleep, knowing that it would be a long time till I'd have to live without her.

–

**A/N: Written on May 31st at like... 1 in the morning. Yeah... I'm that bored. Third section added recently. Wheeee. I wanted to make it happier. So I did. And it kinda occurred to me that I haven't written a single one of these where the two of them have a child yet. **

**Entire dream inside a dream thing reminds me of Inception (which I just saw yesterday. AWESOME MOVIE, MAN. AWESOME. **

**Internet's being nice again. Yaaaay~ But email's still being slow. Boo. **

**Kudos to: Kuramasredredrose, Enigmaticrose4, Hope-Hazard, BabyJaguar, MayContainRandomness, BlackestNight Brightest Day, Koharu Veddette, KandHforever, and Scherherazade! :D **


	24. X: External Injuries

_The Alphabet Notebook _

_By E.M. Megs_

_X – External Injuries _

**A/N: I _know _this technically starts with E and not X... But I'm sick of trying to think up a prompt that starts with X and _ex _makes the same noise! AND this idea's been bugging for so long that I haven't been able to write my NaNoWriMo properly! It needs to go! **

–

Like any normal married couple, my wife and I fought on occasion. The slight differences would always get between us at some point or another and force us to work through them. Such as our differing opinions on how to take care of and raise our son, Yoharu. "I don't see why this is such a big deal!" I exclaimed.

"It's a big deal because it's our _son_, Kyoya! He's 5 and he has _leukemia_."

"So he'll have the treatment and then he'll be perfectly fine!"

"You don't know that! He's _five_! Who knows what else chemo will do to his body!"

"He'll die without it, Haruhi!"

She stared at me for the longest time. "He may die _with _it! Chemo was what killed my mother! Or did you forget that little detail?"

"It could save him."

"Or kill him!" She paused at looked at the ceiling. "I don't trust it, Kyoya."

"What do you suggest then?"

"Biological therapy..."

"That's not an option for the type of leukemia he has, Haruhi. You know that. Only radiation and chemo will cure it effectively." I was starting feel my patience slip away. We'd been arguing about how to get Yoharu treated for days now. And every damn day his cancer advanced a little more. He was my only child and Haruhi was unable to have any more children. So my patience was slipping. "We need to do something about it _now_."

She looked pained and close to tears at that moment. I stared at her, not willing to be moved from my standpoint. Yes, her mother had practically been killed my chemo and radiation when she had breast cancer. Yes, I understood that she didn't trust it. But no, I wouldn't let my son die because she was afraid of something that would ultimately help him. "Please, Kyoya."

"Haruhi," I snapped, "Do you want him to die?"

"Of course not!" she yelled, "I don't want Yoharu to die! I gave birth to him for Kira's sake!"

I sighed. Our voices were rising again. At this rate we'd wake up Yoharu. And he'd definitely have something to say about our fight. I ran a hand through my hair, closing my eyes. "You sure seem like you want him to die," I growled. She tore her eyes away from me. "You're just scared of something that will help him! You're willing to let him die because of _your fears_, Haruhi!"

"No!" she shouted, "No! I'm scared _for _him! What about the 15 percent of children who die?"

"Do you really think he's going to be one of those kids?" I asked incredulously, "He's an Ohtori! Ohtoris are stronger than that!"

"Just because he has your name does _not _make him stronger than anyone else! You always think that just because your family is so powerful that you and everyone else with that name is invincible to everything! Even nature! It's _not true_! You aren't invincible and Yoharu could be part of that 15 percent!"

I lost my temper with her, as I'd done several times. This time it was different though. She'd just torn down all of the self-confidence that my name gave me. Disproved one of the biggest beliefs I'd ever had. So instead of pursing my lips and turning away from my wife, I ended up hitting her.

I regretted it from the moment that my fist flew. A part of me shriveled up into nothing, all anger gone suddenly like it had never been there in the first place. She brought a hand to her face silently, tears finally falling from her eyes.

I hated myself. I was filled to the absolute brim with regret and remorse. I moved forward cautiously, reaching out to try to help her. "Don't touch me, Kyoya," Haruhi whispered. My hands drew back.

"Haruhi, I-"

"Save it," she muttered, moving toward the bathroom without glancing back at me. She slammed the door behind her.

I stood by the bed, wondering why the hell I was so stupid. Then I shut my eyes and sat down heavily. I'd become the one person I promised myself I never would be. My father. I'd beaten my wife – whom I loved dearly – like my father had beaten my mother until she'd finally gotten fed up and divorced him. And I hadn't seen Mom since she'd left Father.

I stood up, determined to make it up to her. "Haruhi?" I called through the bathroom door. All I heard from within was a poorly muffled sob. "I'm sorry. I lost my temper... I'm sorry."

The door swung open abruptly. "That's what they _all say_, Kyoya. Every single one of them say that and then they promise it won't happen again. And you know what? It _always does_." She was breathing heavily, eyes refusing to look at me, with tears still trickling down her cheeks. I didn't do anything but look at her, the bruise forming on her cheekbone.

I shut my eyes as she continued. "You should know this. Your dad probably said the exact same thing to your mom every single time." She hated me. And I hated that she hated me.

"I am _not _my father," I snapped quickly, just to throw that into the fight because it was true. And she would do bloody well to remember that fact. "I'm not my father, Haruhi. I lost my temper. That's the first time it's ever happened and you know it sure as hell won't happen again."

"But it will," she whispered, "It will no matter how much you say it won't." Her eyes closed again and for the first time I realized that this fight was hurting her as much as it was hurting me. "I work with women who were abused and are trying to get away from their husbands, Kyoya. It always happens again." She drew in a shuddering breath. "I want a divorce."

"No you don't."

"Yes I do," she insisted, eyes once more flooding with tears, "I'm getting out before it does happen again."

"Haruhi... Be reasonable."

"I am! I'm protecting myself!"

"What about Yoharu? Are you just going to leave him behind like my mother left me?" I was getting angry again, but mostly it was just bitterness that filled me. Because I'd been eleven when Mother had left, saying she'd be back to visit or maybe even take me with her and she never had.

Haruhi faltered a moment. "He still has leukemia, Haruhi. He needs his mother just as much as he needs me." I paused, struggling with my emotions for a few moments before finishing with a softly spoken, "_I _need you." All she did was stare at me for the longest time. She seemed to be surprised with me.

"In our entire 8 year marriage, you haven't shown that much emotion since you proposed," she finally said quietly, turning away from me.

"I don't want to lose you. I've regretted losing control of my temper since the moment it happened, Haruhi." Her eyes teared up again and she angrily wiped the water droplets away. "I know I don't say it very often, but I love you."

Yoharu started calling for us at the moment, the panic in his voice evident. He'd had another nightmare. "I'll get him," Haruhi mumbled, moving towards the door. I stopped her and shook my head.

"I'll get Yoharu. Take care of yourself." Hesitantly, I pressed my lips to her forehead before continuing to my son's bedroom. It felt like I was just starting to date her again. Like one wrong move and she'd despise me for the rest of her life. Like I was a cautious teenager, afraid to get too close to anyone. Like one kiss too many would break her.

"Hey there," I murmured as I sat down on the side of Yoharu's bed. "What's wrong?" He crawled into my lap slowly, painfully, and wrapped his arms around my neck. I held him close. My son, this was _my son _I was holding. He'd been alive for five years and it was still hard to believe.

"Were you and Mommy fighting again?"

I sighed. Five and just as inquiring as a teenager. "Just a minor disagreement. Nothing to worry about."

"But it wasn't minor. It was about me, wasn't it?" I should have expected him to be that perceptive. He was mine and Haruhi's son for God's sake. I should have expected it, yet he completely threw me off balance. I didn't say anything, so he continued. "I can tell because every time you and Mommy fight, I dream that I'm on a little tiny boat in the middle of the sea. And the waves come and swallow me whole. And sharks are swimming all around me. And I'm so scared that I can't move, so I start screaming instead." He was quiet, pulling away from me to stare at my face. "Mommy's not going to leave is she?"

I closed my eyes, tugging his head to my chest gently. "I hope not," I whispered into his hair.

"When do I get to go back to school?"

"When you're all better."

"When will that be?"

"I'm not sure, Yoharu."

"What's taking so long?" I was quiet, not really sure if he understood the concept of 'cancer' yet. The doctors at the hospital had explained it as well as they could to him but I still wasn't positive he'd understood what they had meant.

"We're trying to decide how to get you treated."

His face screwed up in a way that reminded me of Yuiichi's daughter when she had been his age. "Isn't there only one way?"

I brushed a stray strand of raven hair out of his chocolate brown eyes. "Yes... But that one way could hurt you very much. Your mother and I don't want that to happen to you."

"Because you love me so very much?"

I felt a smile push its way onto my face, feeling the presence of my wife at the doorway. "Yes. Yes we do." I looked up at Haruhi as she gazed at us, a small smile flickering just under the surface of her lips. "I love you and your mother very much. And she loves us too." I glanced at her in silent confirmation. She bit one of her knuckles and nodded.

"I... love you too, Daddy." He was sleepy again, dozing off right there in my arms. I smiled gently and kissed his forehead as I laid him back down in bed, pulling the covers up to his chin. Haruhi merely watched us until I stood in front of her, close enough to touch.

"Chemo," she whispered, looking back at Yoharu's sleeping form.

"A lot of children never get any adverse affects after the cancer's gone," I murmured, "They get the side affects during it but after it's gone there's nothing." Haruhi looked back at my face with quiet contemplation. "He'll be perfectly fine. Because as a _person _he's strong. Even for a five-year-old."

"Alright," she said at last, "Alright then... Chemo." I looked at the bruise on her cheek again, feeling my heart wrestle with remorse. I reached out and touched it tenderly, she flinched slightly but didn't pull back.

"I'm so sorry." She just shook her head and pushed her way into my arms. I held her close.

"No, I am. I was afraid and I tried to make that an excuse to neglect Yoharu's well-being. I... I insulted your pride. I deserved it and I don't want a divorce. I never ever want a divorce."

"Me neither."

I stood there inhaling her scent in the doorway to our son's bedroom for the longest time, knowing that no matter how many external injuries both of us endured, the very few internal ones would be the only ones that mattered.

–

**A/N: Four freaking pages. I completely made up the kid-having-leukemia scenario off the top of my head too. I feel so proud of myself. Even if I have to write it while I'm sick myself. **

**Anyone remember Yoharu from W? Only Y and Z left now. Goody. Wonder how long it'll take me to get THOSE out. **

**Kudos to: X. tears. of. silver. X, Kuramasredredrose, Hope-Hazard, Kayseechan, SarahNThatcher, Scherherazade, MayContainRandomness, KandHforever, BlackestNight BrightestDay, Mikame15, Enigmaticrose4, SWEETSAPHIRE0, and EllaLewis. **

**Can we break 200 reviews? :D And I'm sorry I couldn't get this out sooner... It was ultimately stuck. Sorry sorry sorry. **


	25. Y: Yard

_The Alphabet Notebook_

_By E.M. Megs_

_Y – Yard_

Haruhi shook her head at me as we went into what must have been the tenth house of the day. The realtor was getting impatient as well. Unfortunately, my new wife was not too keen on giving up just yet. And she was way too stubbornly picky for her own good. "Haruhi," I growled, "What's wrong with this one?"

"It's... still too big," she replied, looking a bit sheepish.

I sighed through my nose, trying to keep calm. We'd been house searching for the entire day, but it seemed that every house we looked at was too big for her. "Haruhi," I said patiently, the slight strangulation being the only thing that cued anyone in on my thinning patience. "Pick a house. It's not that hard. Just pick one."

"But if it's too big then someone might get lost."

That was childish reasoning and she knew it. "Haruhi."

"Kyoya."

"This is a perfectly good house!"

"It's too big!" she insisted stubbornly. I took off my glasses just to run a hand over my face. She turned her head away from me, a pout forming on her lips. I sighed for what must have been the millionth time that day and took her hand, pulling her determinedly out of the house.

"I guess we're just going to live with my parents for the rest of our lives," I grumbled, placing a sour look on my face. She groaned a bit under her breath but didn't protest to being brought back to the Ohtori mansion, seeing as she was just about as tired and irritable as I was.

–

I glanced from the light of my laptop to the sleeping form of my wife on the bed beside me. Then back at the profile of the house I was looking at on the screen. Then back at her. A small smile found its way to my lips as I out-bid everyone veering to buy the property on the site.

It would be a surprise for Haruhi. We wouldn't be going house-seeing the next afternoon. In fact, I didn't think we'd be going much of anywhere tomorrow. Except maybe to dinner.

–

"Why aren't we going house-seeing today again?" she asked for what must have been the tenth time in the last hour.

"Haruhi," I stated impatiently, "Just sit back and enjoy yourself." She scowled at me. But did as I asked. I turned my attention back to my email. Center-screen was the message I was composing to our realtor informing her that I'd found the perfect place if he could get the key and deeds for us.

A few times, Haruhi tried to look over my shoulder but I quickly minimized the screen when she did. She narrowed her eyes at me suspiciously, leaning more heavily on my shoulders from behind. "What're you up to, Mr. Ohtori?"

"Nothing, Mrs. Ohtori," I mocked back with a chaste kiss on the lips. "Go shower already. I have the afternoon planned and by the time you're finished, it'll be time to go."

She wrinkled her nose at me. "Are you implying that I need a shower?"

"Yes. Now shoo."

She scoffed lightly, though it sounded more like a playful sound, and strolled toward the bathroom, waving her hand at me before closing the door. I turned my attention back to the screen just as the realtor's reply shot back into my inbox. I glanced it over, a pleased smirk worming its way onto my lips. "Perfect," I whispered to myself.

–

"Kyoya, what're you-?"

I hushed her quickly, keeping my hands locked over her eyes so she couldn't see where I was leading her. "It's a surprise," I murmured in her ear, noting with quite a bit of satisfaction that a shiver ran down her spine. She scowled a bit but allowed me to lead her right up the the front door.

She blinked as I uncovered her eyes. Then blinked some more. "I thought we weren't going house-seeing today."

"We aren't," I said and she turned to me with a skeptical look. "This is the last house we're going to look at Haruhi."

"How are you so sure?"

"I already bought it." I held up the deeds just to prove it.

She blinked once, then her scowl deepened, eyes lighting a bit with anger. "Kyoya! We promised each other that we'd choose together!"

"I know you'll love it though, Haruhi."

"How can you know if I never looked at it? If I didn't even know about it?"

"Trust me." She crossed her arms over her chest and planted her feet firmly in the ground, refusing to enter the house even with my prompting. "At least look around, Haruhi. I chose it specifically for you. It's only a few thousand feet bigger than the apartment you and your dad used to have. Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and an amazing view. Just look at it."

She sighed and shot one last glare at me before looking over the front yard that we were still standing in, then the front of the place. It was small. Smaller than I would have liked but big enough for both of us plus some extra room. I could make due with the size as long as she was the only one sharing it with me. It had a slightly modern air to it without actually being modern. The view was of the city lights of Tokyo from a distance, since she apparently liked more rural areas instead of the city. But the part that I hoped would really reel her in was the part that I was going to show her last of all.

She wasn't convinced about the small place even after I'd shown her everything about it that she might like and that I did – because, I admit it, despite the fact that it was less than half the size of one _wing _of the Ohtori mansion, I liked it quite a lot. She cast her eyes back to the door, looking like she wanted to leave. "Haruhi, I bought it. I had some of our things moved already. We're staying." She glared at me, apparently still upset that I'd bought the house without consulting her first.

I smiled and took her hand, tugging her toward the backyard. "The only differences between here and your old apartment are: one, it's a bit bigger because I like my space; two, your dad isn't here; and three," I paused and pushed open the backdoor that led to the patio. "It actually has a yard."

It had gotten dark while we'd been exploring inside. Or at least dark enough that the backyard looked even more amazing than I thought it would. I watched my wife's face with a small smile, hearing her stifled gasp no matter how much she tried to smother it.

It wasn't a particularly big yard. But it wasn't small either. Couldn't have been bigger than the house. It wasn't a fancy yard either, but apparently she loved it. Just as I thought she would. We could see Tokyo, not far enough that it was just a tiny patch of scenery but enough that the lights weren't glaringly bright.

The yard itself was simple, with the possibly for someone to make it a bit more complex. A white wooden fence surrounded the place, a small stream ran through it on the right while a garden took over a good portion of it on the left. I think the thing that made her breath catch was the simple pathway that led through the garden to a simple white wooden arch with lights wrapped around it. "I never really thought of you as romantic," she teased softly as I started to lead her down the path.

"I'm not," I said bluntly with a mischievous glint in my eye, "I just thought this would be a nice surprise. It was here when I bought it. No additions from myself."

"Kyoya."

"Hmm?"

"There's one more thing that this house has that my apartment didn't."

"What's that?"

"You." And with that she pulled me down for a sweet kiss underneath the arch.

–

**A/N: Prompt from my best friend because... I really needed to get rid of this accursed writer's block. And it seems that random prompts work occasionally. SO WHY NOT ASK FOR A PROMPT FOR THIS? **

**Also, upon many requests, this one is light and fluffy. Such a nice contrast to the DARK HEAVY stuff I've been writing as of lately. And such a nice break as well. Whew. **

**Haruhi and Kyoya seem slightly OOC to me... Huh. Do they? **

**Kudos to: Enigmaticrose4, Souzousei, MayContainRandomness, Mikame15, Kuramasredredrose, Hope-Hazard, krissy2lip, Fruitsbasketluver123, Red Code, Scherherazade, Break The Angel's Wings, DM-sama (I'm going to end up going with that idea I think... Eeeeee.), flamingbunnies. **


	26. Z: Zebras

_The Alphabet Notebook_

_By E.M. Megs _

_Z – Zebra_

It takes an incredible amount of skill to blend into a crowd of common people. Especially when you're an heir of the Ohtori Corporation. Yet, I find myself having to do that thanks to a certain blonde idiot, two trouble-making twins, and my two senpais that always seem to tag along with Tamaki's hair-brained schemes.

Haruhi, if she wasn't with me, would have been dragged into it too, no doubt.

Of course... If she wasn't with me then the five of them wouldn't dare be following me anyway.

Haruhi sighed in exasperation as we passed the three lead idiots trying to inconspicuous while looking at the hippos. Their disguises, as normal, were completely ridiculous and not at all indiscreet. "Do they just do this for the fun of trying to embarrass themselves or do they seriously not realize that they're making a nuisance of themselves?" my brunette companion muttered under her breath as we came up to the lion exhibit at the Tokyo Zoo.

Yes. I was at the zoo with Haruhi. We were on a date. The tenth one to be exact. "I think they like embarrassing themselves," I replied harshly, "If they actually had any mind for not doing so, then they'd hire someone that isn't so obvious."

She rolled her eyes in response and tugged on the hand she'd had hold of since six exhibits ago, effectively leading me to look at the lions. Neither of us were particularly affectionate, which was probably why Tamaki insisted on following us when we went out. To _'protect' _Haruhi from getting her heart broken. Where he got the idea that I would 'break her heart', is a loss to me. I have no intentions of doing so and have told him several times over the 5-almost-6 months Haruhi and I had been officially together.

I could very clearly hear Hikaru and Kaoru muttering amongst themselves from 10 feet away, leaving no doubt that Haruhi could also hear them. This suspicion was confirmed when she let out a frustrated grunt and glared in the direction of the two. I shifted my hand from hers to the small of her back silently.

Tamaki let out half of a shriek of objection before being feverishly hushed by Hunny and Mori-senpai. I couldn't help the small smirk from coming to my face. "If I can get a reaction like that every time, I might actually start to enjoy them tagging along," I murmured bemusedly.

"Speak for yourself," Haruhi hissed, obviously still frustrated with our friends. My almost-smile fell down a few notches. She was not happy with their presences, therefore I should not suggest that I may be enjoying it. I barely suppressed a sigh as I took her hand and led her carefully toward the next attraction.

Upon seeing black and white stripes, a plan started to form in my head. Zebras, when placed in their natural habitat with their natural predators – lions and cheetahs – would form large groups to effectively confuse the hunter as to which one of them they were actually hunting. Meaning, if the prey – Haruhi and I – could somehow blend into the group – the commoners – then the hunters – the rest of the host club – would lose track of us.

"Follow my lead," I muttered softly to Haruhi just before stepping away from her to talk to a nearby teenage girl. Recently, Tamaki seemed to have gained the common public's attention as some kind of celebrity. I was pining on that fame of his as a distraction for mine and Haruhi's escape. "See that guy over there?" I asked the most-likely-15-year-old, nudging her slightly to urge her to look at where I was pointing in Tamaki's direction. "That's Tamaki Suoh."

"No way!" the girl exclaimed. I simply nodded. She apparently had come with a few friends and scampered away from me to them, blabbering about '_the blonde half-French hottie_' being at the zoo at that very moment. I leaned back as Haruhi approached me quizzically as I stood back and watched my plan unfold.

"Watch," I murmured, taking hold of her hand and pulling her gently to my side.

Seconds later, the two of us stood back in amusement as the girl I'd previously spoken to and her female friends let out a hysteric shriek, "_IT _IS _TAMAKI SUOH!_" and ran in the direction of the clueless blonde and twins. It took less than a minute for the three of them to be completely submerged in a hoard of fan girls.

And Tamaki, always one for loving attention, soaked it up while I whispered, "He really is an idiot. Come on," in Haruhi's ear. I snuck away with her only a few steps behind me, not stopping until we'd reached the reptile house, which was conveniently empty. Haruhi leaned against a railing and looked at me approvingly.

"That was pretty sly," she commented drily

I shrugged. "Finding new techniques to distract Tamaki and the twins is just normal routine for me." I discreetly placed a hand on the railing she was leaning on on either side of her.

"I'm not complaining," she said quietly, smiling slightly as she gazed at me. "It's quite a bit of a relief actually."

It seemed to me that she was completely oblivious to the fact that I had moved any closer to her, just as she had been blissfully unaware that I was aiming for her attentions before we'd started dating. "I agree. It's a relief," I murmured, face only a few inches from hers; then centimeters. She was quiet, looking in my eyes with those chocolate eyes that seemed to look through practically everything. I watched those eyes flutter shut as I closed the remaining space between my lips and hers.

She smiled as I pulled away. "Only took you ten dates," she mumbled teasingly, positively glowing with contentment. I heard a childlike giggle from somewhere close to the entrance and caught a glimpse of blonde hair out of the corner of my eye. "Your plan didn't account for the seniors did it?"

"Not exactly," I sighed, tucking a strand of stray hair behind her ear. I didn't bother trying to contain the smile I could feel bursting through my normally stoic face. I didn't bother trying to assess the potential problem of our seniors. "I doubt that they'll be a problem though," I added after a moment of forethought, "I think they always knew that we'd end up in a position like this and accepted it from the beginning. They only go along with Tamaki because they think that we're a _cute _couple." Admittedly, I hated the word cute. But I decided that I could make an exception when I heard her giggle.

"It'd be really nice if they'd keep the others off our tail after they get freed from that hoard of girls," Haruhi replied, just a little louder than she'd previously been speaking in order to get the attention of the two elder hosts.

"You got it, Haru-chan!" Hunny's small voice piped up immediately.

She laughed again as we heard their footsteps retreat. "We'll have to circle back to the safari animals again later," she said softly.

"Hmm?"

"I didn't get to see the zebras and giraffes."

I very nearly chuckled at the irony as I nodded and led her out of the reptile house.

–

**A/N: Woo. Finished. FINISHED FINISHED FINISHED. You've no idea how happy I am to get this done. And the same day that I finished off my IB chem exam too (That thing SUCKED. I needed something to get my spirits up again.)**

**Hope you enjoy this final installment of _The Alphabet Notebook _and I hope that you'll turn your attention to my other works. Maybe sometime this summer I'll start up another collection like this. MAYBE. So possibly keep a look out for that. **

**Kudos for Y go to: Enigmaticrose4 (heard you graduated btw. CONGRATS!), SarahNThatcher, flamingbunnies, Nessie-san, Mrs. Ootori43ver, DM-sama, and Flora-chan. As well as every other person who's ever reviewed over the course of this project of mine. **

**I'd be extremely happy if this could break 250 reviews. Which is a bit of a stretch considering that would mean getting 25 for this chapter. But, even if it doesn't happen I'll still be happy that it ever broke 200. **

**Thanks to all and good afternoon! **

**- E.M. Megs**


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